


Carry On Countdown Fics 2017

by kayla96k



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-08 19:35:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 27,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12871530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayla96k/pseuds/kayla96k
Summary: These are all my COC 2017 fics :) All of these are pretty much one shots. All of these have also been posted to my tumblr: carry-on-kissing-snowbaz. I hope you all enjoy!





	1. Detention and Chalk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1: At Watford

**Simon**

It was hard to focus on an exam when your nemesis was sitting beside you, answering the questions faster than you were. Simon was only on the second page of his exam and had noticed that Baz was already turning to the fourth page. Baz had always been the better student, Simon knew this, but he’d never had to suffer through watching it happen in action like this.

Miss Possibelf had changed the seating arrangement, just like that in the middle of term. Simon had tried to talk to her, had pointed out all the potentially disastrous scenarios that would result from having him seated next to Baz, but she’d refused. She said that, given that it was their eighth year, she was teaching them how to be the mature adults they should have already been.

Simon felt a rush of happiness when he flipped to the third page. It was deflated, however, when he saw that Baz was on the last page of his exam.

“Showoff,” Simon muttered.

Baz’s grey eyes slid to his, narrowing.

“Excuse me?” Baz whispered.

“Why don’t you just close your eyes and fill them out that way? I’m sure you’ll score just as high, you’re so perfect.”

Baz sneered.

“As grateful as I am for the compliment,” Baz whispered, “Would you mind shutting your mouth? You’re ruining my concentration.”

“Maybe I could shut up if you weren’t such a superior prick,” Simon said.

Baz glared.

“Maybe, if you weren’t such an idiotic-“

“Simon! Baz! Give me your tests!”

Miss Possibelf stood above them, her eyes narrowed and her hand outstretched.

Glumly, Simon handed her his test. Normally she was nice to Simon but just because she liked him didn’t mean she treated him differently than anyone else in their class. With a huff, Baz handed her his own exam.

She tore them both in half.

“Hey!” Baz barked.

Simon’s cheeks reddened.

“Talking during an exam is an automatic zero and a detention. You boys both know the rules. Come see me after class.”

“But Miss Possibelf,” Simon said, “We weren’t cheating.”

She shrugged.

“I don’t care what you two were discussing. Rules are rules.”

They both had to suffer the rest of the class without exams and endure the looks everyone else was giving them. Simon could practically feel the rage coming off of Baz to his right.

“I just want you to know that I blame you for this,” Baz spat.

“The feeling is mutual,” Simon said.

**Baz**

If Baz had to clap one more chalkboard eraser, he thought it might have to be against Snow’s head.

They were in Miss Possibelf’s classroom, cleaning. He still couldn’t believe he was going to take a zero on that exam. He’d been well on his way to getting an A on it, he was sure of it. The exam had been worth thirty percent of his grade. Now Bunce was going to take the spot of top of their class for sure.

The source of all his misery was angrily scraping gum off of the bottoms of the desks, his magic making the air thick with static. Normally Baz wouldn’t have gotten so riled up by Snow’s jabs, but it had been torture ever since the seat change. Before, he could watch Snow from afar, enjoying the view and sneering every time he got caught. Now he was next to him every single day, feeling his magic and body warmth. It was like he was getting drunk on Simon Snow every day, and it made everything more intense. Including his frustration when Snow acted like an absolute git.

“I’ve never gotten detention before,” Snow pouted.

Baz looked over at him and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, or laugh. He was sitting under a desk, scraper in hand, with his hair dangerously close to the gum territory. He looked miserable.

“I’m surprised,” Baz said, going back to clapping the erasers together, “What with all the ditching you do to go off on adventures, I thought you’d have gotten detention loads of times.”

Snow glared at him.

“The Mage signs off on my, well, they’re not _adventures_. He signs off on my missions.”

Baz smirked.

“Right Mr. Bond, sorry,” he said.

“Well,” Snow said, rising to his feet, “Have _you_ ever been in detention?”

Baz thought about it and frowned.

“No, actually, I haven’t,” he said.

Snow looked surprised.

“That’s weird,” Snow said.

Baz winced internally. He didn’t need to be reminded how low Snow thought of him.

“I know, I’m the worst villain ever to be evil,” Baz said.

Snow growled.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, “I just meant that with all the times we’ve fought in class it’s weird we never got a detention before this.”

Baz studied Snow’s face.

“Maybe we used to be better at fighting,” Baz murmured.

Snow blinked and then looked down at Baz’s hands. Baz was covered in chalk dust, from head to toe. He was pretty sure he’d be washing chalk out of his hair all the way up until the Leavers Ball.

“Here,” Snow said, taking some of the other erasers, “Let me help.”

Baz wondered if Snow was actually trying to be nice to him.

**Simon**

He wasn’t sure why he was trying to be nice.

Simon had been helping to clap the dust out of the erasers for about twenty minutes and he still wasn’t sure why he’d offered to help Baz. It had just been strange; to realize that in all their history together this was the first time they had gotten in trouble together. And then Simon had started to think about all the times they _should_ have gotten detention together. It had made him feel funny, thinking about their past.

“Do you think this will be the last time?” Simon asked.

Baz looked up at him.

“What do you mean?”

Simon clapped his erasers together, trying not to cough when the dust hit his nose.

“The last time that our fight ends in something as silly as a detention,” Simon said.

Baz’s grey eyes flickered over his face. Simon always had been obsessed with Baz’s eyes. Technically, they both had blue eyes but in reality their eyes couldn’t be more different. Simon’s were just plain old blue but Baz’s were more than that, like the mist that covered the Great Lawn in the early hours of the morning.

“Maybe,” Baz said, looking away, “I hope it isn’t though.”

Simon picked up another set of erasers, thinking _How can Miss Possibelf possibly have so many of these in one classroom?_

“Why?” Simon asked.

Baz sighed.

“Do you really think I want to kill you Snow?”

For a long time he’d thought so. But now he wasn’t so sure.

“So you don’t want to kill me?” Simon asked.

“There are,” Baz said, shaking dust out of his hair, “A lot of things I want to do to you, killing you is not one of them.”

Simon frowned, confused.

“What do you mean?”

Baz shook his head.

“It’s nothing Snow, let’s just get this done.”

They worked in silence for a bit. Simon couldn’t help but turn Baz’s words around in his head, trying to arrange them in a way that made sense. Did Baz want to be his friend? To have one last go at him on the pitch? What could he possibly want from him?

“And I’m done,” Baz said, wiping his hands.

Simon looked up and laughed.

“What?” Baz asked, looking annoyed.

“It’s nothing,” Simon said, “You just have chalk on your face.”

Simon stepped forward, licking his thumb. He pushed it over Baz’s sharp cheekbone, wiping away some of the chalk that had settled there. Baz’s eyes widened, and he reached for Simon’s wrist.

“What are you doing?” Baz asked.

“Oh calm down,” Simon said.

He licked his thumb again and went to work on the rest of the chalk. The skin there was surprisingly soft and a little cool. He had almost gotten it all and had pressed his other fingers onto the side of Baz’s face to get a better grip when Baz sucked in a sharp breath. Simon looked at him and was about to ask what was wrong when something in Baz’s eyes made him stop.

Simon felt his heart thud a little faster.

“You know,” Baz murmured, “People don’t usually just lick their finger to clean someone’s face.”

Simon looked at Baz’s mouth as he spoke, a million thoughts clashing in his head.

“Penny does it to me all the time,” Simon muttered.

Simon hadn’t let go of Baz’s face, even though all the chalk was gone from his cheek.

“You’re still touching me,” Baz said.

“You’re still letting me,” Simon said.

Baz’s mouth parted slightly and then Simon couldn’t help himself any longer, he was just kissing him.

He half expected Baz to push him away, or yell, or do both. But none of those things happened. Instead Baz let him kiss him, his own hands finding their way onto Simon’s cheeks. Simon realized, as Baz pressed him gently against the chalkboard, that it was strange they hadn’t done this before. Maybe they’d used to be better at fighting, but this, they were best at doing this, Simon thought.

His hands were in Baz’s hair and Baz’s were untucking Simon’s shirt, pushing up underneath to touch the skin there. At some point Baz had opened his mouth and Simon had lost the ability to think straight, his brain melting away.

"Well, this wasn’t _exactly_ what I had in mind. But I’m glad you two are getting along.”

Baz moved away from him and Simon saw that Miss Possibelf was standing in the doorway of the classroom, a smirk on her face.

“I, uh, we, um-“

Simon couldn’t catch his breath.

Miss Possibelf put up a hand to stop Simon.

“It’s quite all right Mr. Snow. I think I understand. But, seeing as your detention is over, I need my classroom now.”

Baz gave her a funny look.

“Did you give us detention to try to get us to get along better?”

“Yes,” She said, “And it achieved a great deal more than that, it would appear.”

Simon’s cheeks were burning.

“Now,” She said, as they were filing out, “Do be careful in the halls. You two look like you both rolled around in a chalk factory.”

When they got into the hall they looked at each other, and broke out into laughter.

“I cannot believe that just happened,” Simon said.

Baz had tears in his eyes.

“I know,” He said, “It felt like having Mary Poppins walk in on me wanking off.”

When their laughter died down, Simon reached out shyly, taking Baz’s hand.

“So, uh, is this okay?”

Baz pushed his hand through Simon’s hair, smiling.

“More than okay,” He said.

They kissed and Simon didn’t even mind that it tasted like old chalk.


	2. Lurking Disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Social Media

**Simon**

As he scrolled through Baz’s pictures on Instagram, Simon wondered how creepy he was being. Sure, people talked about lurking on other people’s social media accounts all the time, but Baz wasn’t someone he’d just met or someone he never got to talk to. Baz was his roommate, someone Simon saw everyday. It made his lurking feel extra stalker-y, so he tried to limit it as much as possible.

Which didn’t really mean much. Simon checked Baz’s twitter practically everyday and had notifications for his posts on Tumblr. He was obsessed; Penny knew it, Agatha knew and Simon knew it.

In person with Baz, Simon never talked to him about more than simple school stuff. At Watford, unlike most universities, you got the same room and roommate every year. So when they’d been freshmen, Simon had dealt with his crush on Baz the only way he’d known how, by pretending it didn’t exist. Even now, in his senior year of college, he had never really carried a normal conversation with Baz. He wasn’t sure if Baz even knew Simon existed as anything other than his roommate.

Penny bounced over to him in the dining hall, plate filled for both herself and for Simon, since he’d forgotten to grab a plate. She looked over his shoulder at his phone screen and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t understand why you go so far back on his Instagram,” She said, “You’ve seen those photos a hundred times.”

Simon always felt defensive when Penny or Agatha made fun of his cyber stalking. They were always pushing him to just have a conversation with Baz instead of looming pathetically over his social media accounts.

“Leave me alone,” he muttered.

Agatha sat down on the other side of him, also having grabbed him an extra helping of food.

“What account are we looking at right now? Oh, Instagram. I was hoping for Tumblr.”

Simon looked at her.

“Why?”

She grinned, deviously.

“He always posts his dirtier stuff there,” she said, “Like ‘Need me someone who can bite’ or whatever.”

Simon felt his cheeks go aflame.

Penny knocked his elbow.

“Yeah Si,” she said, “Maybe all you have to do to win him over is say, ‘I saw that you’ve been looking for someone who can bite, can I fill in?’”

Simon’s jaw hardened.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

Agatha pulled on his arm at the same time that Penny grabbed his belt loop to stop him from getting up. In the process, his phone fell in his hands. On instinct he tried everything to catch it, all fingers and thumbs. The relief over having caught his phone was short lived however, when he realized what he’d done.

“Oh god,” Simon said.

“What?” Agatha asked.

He turned his phone over in his hands and saw that, sure enough, he’d liked the photo he’d been looking at.

 _“Oh my god,”_ Simon whispered.

Penny grabbed the phone from him and looked down, eyes widening.

“It’s okay,” she said, “We can just unlike it.”

Simon groaned and put his hands on his face.

Agatha stood to look at his phone and gasped.

“No that won’t work,” she said, “Baz will get the notification no matter what. If he tries to open it and sees that the like is gone, he’ll know that Simon unliked it.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have his notifications on,” Penny said, voice hopeful.

“Maybe they’ll let me drop out if I beg,” Simon said.

Penny bit her lip.

“Not to say I told you so but,” Penny said, “I did warn you that this might happen.”

Simon stood up.

“I’m leaving, for real now,” he said.

“But you’ve had nothing to eat.”

He shook his head.

“I’m not hungry anymore.”

He walked away thinking about which place on campus was the best to curl up and die in.

**Baz**

Baz had been refreshing his Instagram account, over and over, just to be sure that what he’d been seeing wasn’t a mistake. No matter how many times he refreshed it though, the same notification stared up at him from his phone screen. He couldn’t believe it.

_Simon_Snow and 76 others have liked your photo_

Simon Snow had liked his photo. It hadn’t even been a recent picture either. Simon had liked a picture from 47 weeks ago. Baz hadn’t even realized Simon was following him in the first place, let alone lurking through his photos.

Baz had fallen for his roommate practically the moment he’d tumbled ungraciously into their room during move-in day freshmen year. His bronze curls, nervous blue eyes, and constellation of moles had caught Baz’s eye in a way that no one else had. But he never really spoke to Baz about much other than school or maybe the weather. Baz had been sure Simon didn’t know he existed.

He felt like he knew him better than anyone else, when he’d look through Simon’s personal tag on Tumblr. Baz knew what it was like to feel like you were never good enough for your parents or that you’d never live up to anyone else’s expectations, which was what Simon often complained about. But he’d never had the nerve to tell Simon any of that though, worried that he’d just reject him on the spot.

It had been a couple of hours since the notification and Baz hadn’t seen any sign of Simon. He wondered if he was reading too much into it. The picture had been of him wearing an ugly Christmas sweater from last year with a couple of friends. Maybe Simon was just really enthusiastic about ugly Christmas sweaters.

Their lock on their room jingled, making Baz jump. He quickly rearranged himself so that it looked like he’d been lounging on his bed, watching videos on his laptop, instead of obsessing over one small notification for the past few hours.

Simon walked in with his headphones on and nodded at Baz without looking at him. Then he threw his bag on his bed and grabbed his shower stuff.

“I’m going to take a shower, do you need the bathroom before I do?” Simon asked.

Baz felt his hope sink. It was looking more and more like the notification had been an accident, or at the very least like it didn’t mean anything.

“No,” Baz said, “You can go ahead.”

Simon nodded and walked towards the bathroom door.

“Um, Simon?” Baz asked.

Simon turned back around but didn’t meet Baz’s eyes. Looking at him made Baz lose the courage to continue.

“Uh, nevermind,” he said.

Simon glanced up at Baz and then looked quickly away.

“Sure,” he said.

When the bathroom door shut Baz lay back down and threw his arm over his face. He didn’t understand why it was so hard to talk to Simon about this. People asked people out all the time without any issue, so why was it so hard for Baz?

With new determination, he got to his feet and walked over to the door. But when he raised his hand to knock, he paused. He wasn’t sure what he planned to say and he wasn’t sure that any of this was a good idea. Then, with Baz’s hand still poised over the door to knock, the door swung open. Simon stood in the doorway, his eyes widening as he stopped himself from nearly walking into Baz.

“Baz what the-“

“I saw that you liked my picture,” Baz blurted.

Simon stopped talking.

When the silence stretched out for longer than Baz could take, he decided to continue.

“I-I just wanted to tell you that I saw,” Baz muttered.

Simon didn’t look away from him but Baz could tell that he wanted to. He looked faintly nauseous.

“Look,” Simon said weakly, “I uh, I’m sorry…I just, can we pretend it never happened?”

Baz frowned.

“Why?”

Simon swallowed hard.

“I just, I don’t want things to get weird between us.”

The steam was building up in the shower behind Simon, fogging up the mirror and making Baz’s forehead moist.

“It didn’t weird me out,” Baz said.

Simon’s eyebrows pushed together in disbelief. Was it strange to think about someone’s eyebrows as much as Baz thought about Simon’s? He hoped it wasn’t.

“You didn’t?” he asked.

“No I,” Baz cleared his throat, “I do it too. Look through your posts, I mean.”

“Why?”

Baz looked down at his hands and shrugged.

“Because I like you.”

After a moment or so of silence, Simon reached over and grabbed one of Baz’s hands shyly. Baz looked up in surprise and saw that Simon was smiling, sheepishly.

“I like you too, I just didn’t know if you even cared that I existed,” Simon said.

Baz thought about all the times he’d thought just the same thing about Simon and laughed.

“We’ve both been ridiculous about this haven’t we?” Baz asked.

Simon smiled.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

After a moment or so of hesitation, Baz leaned forward and kissed Simon, no longer afraid. Simon kissed him back, gently cupping Baz’s cheeks and deepening the kiss.

It was so much better than lurking.


	3. Time Travel and Ducks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Time Travel Au

**Simon**

He was going to kill Baz. Even if he had to hunt down a musket to do it, he vowed he would get revenge for this.

Only a few minutes ago the two of them had been arguing while fighting off the chimera, the chimera which _Baz_ had conjured, when suddenly he’d yelled out a spell at the precise moment Simon had grabbed him in a panic. Without meaning to, Simon had pulsed some of his magic into Baz at the exact moment he’d finished saying the spell.

 **“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!”** Baz had shouted.

Under normal circumstances, the famous Charles Dickens quotes could be used as a spell to right something that was going wrong in the moment, to make the best of times and all that. But, when Simon’s magic had tinged the spell, it had sent them back to the very time the quote had been conceived.

Simon and Baz were sitting, very uneasily on the steps of the British Museum, after having learned from a newspaper about what had just happened to them. That was how they’d figured out they had landed themselves in 1859.

“I cannot believe this,” Simon muttered.

“I know,” Baz said, “The book was set during the French revolution, how did we end up here?”

Simon looked at him, unsure he was hearing him correctly.

“Are you actually making jokes right now?”

Baz shrugged.

“It’s not a joke really, I’m just questioning the accuracy of the spell.”

“We’re doomed,” Simon said, “I mean seriously doomed. I do _not_ want to live out the rest of my life with you as the only person I know. In the Victorian Era at that.”

Baz frowned.

“I’m sure I could track down some of my ancestors living in this time.”

Simon growled.

“And what about me?” He asked.

“Well,” Baz said, smirking, “You don’t know who your parents were. Looks like you’ll be on your own.”

Simon felt like going off and then realized that he couldn’t. There was no way that he could go off in front of the British Museum, especially not almost two hundred years before the present. He had no idea how it would effect the current time line.

“You are absolutely unbelievable,” Simon said.

Baz glared at him.

“At least I’m not the git who supercharged someone in the middle of a complicated spell!”

Simon shook his head.

“Fine,” he said, “I’m sorry for that. Next time you summon a chimera to kill me, I’ll try to focus a bit more on the whole ‘no touching’ thing. But for now, will you please help me try to figure this out?”

Baz rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” he said, “Will you just calm down? All we need to do is figure out a spell that would do the same thing and send us back.”

Simon raised his eyebrows.

“Oh yeah, super easy. I guess we’ll just try out **Tik Tok on the clock** and just hope for the best?”

Baz raised his eyebrows, considering it.

“That isn’t a half bad idea actually,” he said.

“I wasn’t being serious!” Simon shouted.

Baz glanced around them, nervously.

The people around them were staring at them and whispering. Simon knew that, although not the worst clothing to be caught in during the Victorian Era, their Watford uniforms still stood out. The grime from the fight with the chimera also looked suspicious.

“All right,” Baz said, “Before we figure this out, can we at least get some proper clothes so we don’t stand out?”

Simon sighed.

“All right,” he said, climbing down the steps, “But you’re buying me some food on the way.”

**Baz**

Snow seemed to warming up to Victorian London as he ate his way through all the street vendors had to offer. Baz had to drag him away from the vendors before all of Simon’s talking made them suspicious. He was worse than a child in the zoo.

They’d been looking in storefronts for hours while Snow sampled all his treats. Baz had had to tear him away from a toyshop, though even he had to admit it had been pretty spectacular. Later they’d walked past a music hall and Snow had had to drag Baz away from it.

Snow looked fine in his clothes, even Baz had to admit it. He was wearing suit with a ridiculous top hat. It made his blue eyes and bronze curls stand out. Baz had gone for a deep green suit and hat, splurging on a cane just because. Snow had made fun of him for that but he’d threatened to stop spelling money if he kept making fun of him.

They finally settled at Hyde Park and sat to eat a few ham sandwiches.

“This hasn’t been so bad after all,” Snow said.

Baz glanced at him and felt the corner of his mouth tug up. Snow had grease on the corner of his mouth and was looking at a duck a few paces away with a fond expression.

“So you’d be happy to spend the rest of your life with me here in 1859 London?”

Snow glanced at him.

“You said you would leave me to find your ancestors.”

Baz threw a piece of sandwich bread in the duck’s direction.

“I didn’t actually mean it. I’ll always be stuck with you.” Snow smiled at the now sated duck.

“Wow, how romantic.” Baz felt his cheeks go warm.

“Let’s uh, figure out a spell to get us home,” Baz said.

Snow took another bite of his sandwich.

“Actually,” he said, mouth full, “I came up with an idea while we were getting our clothes.”

Baz frowned.

“Why didn’t you say something?”

Simon shrugged and looked down.

“I guess I was just having fun,” he said.

Baz didn’t understand why, but he had the sudden desire to grab Snow’s hand and squeeze it, to reassure him or something.

“It has been fun today,” Baz admitted.

Snow looked back up at him.

“Why can’t we be more like this back home? Go eat together and feed ducks together.”

Baz sighed.

“Because my family wants you dead. And your Mage wants to kick my family out of the World of Mages entirely.”

Snow squeezed his lips together.

“Well,” he said, “We’re only thirteen. I say we leave this big stuff to them. If they want to fight it out, then why should we worry about it?”

Baz rolled his eyes.

“You know it isn’t that simple.”

Simon picked at the grass on the ground, head hung low.

“I know,” he said, glumly, “But I want it to be different.”

The duck had come closer to them, squawking for more food. Baz handed it the rest of his sandwich. It really was a greedy duck and far too comfortable with humans.

“Why? Haven’t you always wanted me thrown in a dungeon,” Baz said.

Snow took the rest and reached out to pet the duck. For whatever reason, it let him, ignoring him while it finished Baz’s sandwich.

“I did. But I don’t think I ever really meant it. I don’t want to now.”

Baz frowned.

“A few hours ago I tried to get that chimera to kill you,” Baz said.

“We both know you were only trying to scare me,” Snow said, “You knew I’d just go off.”

Baz looked around him, at all the people walking with parasols.

“Well you didn’t,” Baz laughed, “Obviously.”

Snow laughed with him, startling the duck.

“Maybe,” Baz said, “When we go back, I work on my family and you work on the Mage. Maybe…we try to be different.”

Snow nodded.

“All right,” he said, “Then I’m ready to share my spell idea.”

“What is it?”

Snow looked at his face, his eyes warm.

**“Time flies when you’re having fun.”**

Baz felt his heart stutter. He hadn’t thought it was possible that Snow would ever like him, but here they were having fun together. He knew that the spell would never work if they hadn’t come together as they had. It made him feel warm and a bit tingly. He didn’t understand it but for once he didn’t fight it.

“All right, let’s go behind a tree before we do it. I don’t want to scare the locals.”

Snow looked lovingly at the greedy duck.

“Can we take her?”

Baz frowned.

“No.”

“But Margery loves us,” Snow pouted.

“You named the duck?”

They were walking over to a tree, the duck following them.

“Well I wanted to name her butter but I knew that you’d think that was stupid.”

Baz snorted.

“It is stupid. Wait, Margery…margarine…”

Snow looked away, guilty.

“You are seriously disturbed,” Baz said.

“Does that mean I can take Butter?”

“No! Haven’t you ever heard of the butterfly effect?”

They crouched behind the tree.

“Yeah but I’ve never heard of the duck effect.”

Baz ignored him and put his hands on Snow’s shoulders.

“We ready?” he asked.

Butter the duck settled at their feet and Baz saw no way to dissuade her from coming with them.

“Yes,” Snow said.

**“Time flies when you’re having fun!”**

Butter quacked.

And then they were gone.

**Simon**

They were sitting in their room at Watford, thankfully in the right time period, telling Penny all about their adventure. She was sitting on the bed, stroking Butter, while she listened intently.

“Well,” she said, “I’m very glad you idiots didn’t mess up the current timeline.”

Baz smiled and Simon and he felt a small flutter in his stomach.

“I have to say though,” she said, “It sounds like you two went on a date.”

Simon glanced worriedly over at Baz, who looked similarly nervous.

“Penny!” Simon said.

Butter quacked.

“See? Us girls know the truth.”

That made them all laugh.


	4. Drowning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Rainy Day

**Simon**

Going on a moat on a rainy day was a bad idea even under the best of circumstances. If that moat was filled with merwolves though, and being punted by Baz, then you were really under dire circumstances.

Simon wobbled onto the boat and glared at Baz, who’d gracefully loaded himself on in front of Simon. It really wasn’t fair how perfect he was. The rain was falling so rapidly that it stung a little on his face as it came down.

“If you tell me what you’re looking for,” Baz said, irritably, “Then we might be able to get out before the storm _really_ hits.”

Simon looked away and didn’t answer. He wasn’t about to trust Baz with something like finding the fifth hair. He was already so close to finding all the hares, if Baz hadn’t already caught on to what he was doing then he didn’t want to cause it prematurely. He always found out what Simon was up to, it was only ever a matter of time before he’d get in his way.

“It’s nothing,” Simon said.

Baz rolled his eyes.

“Suit yourself, get soaked for all I care.”

Simon realized, not for the first time since they’d walked to the punts, that he should probably be grateful for what Baz was doing. It wasn’t like he normally would help Simon, especially not on Christmas Eve.

“Thanks though,” Simon said, quietly, “For this.”

Baz frowned at him.

“Just hurry up and get whatever you need to do done,” he muttered.

Simon sighed and gave up on conversation.

The boat wobbled slightly as a gust of wind pushed against it. Simon tripped and nearly fell over into the water.

“Careful!” Baz barked.

Simon righted himself.

“I-I yeah, I’m sorry.”

He had to be careful in the boat given that he didn’t know how to swim.

Holding onto the side of the punt with his slick hands, he studied the wall against the moat. It had colorful mosaics, battles, legends, and historical scenes scattered across it. The blinding rain made it difficult for Simon to see clearly, so he had to lean a little closer to try and make the images out. He saw something about a half creature, man and dragon, and a forest on fire. None of it made very much sense, so he leaned closer.

**“Simon!”**

He’d leaned too far.

He smacked into the cold water like it was a semi-solid wall, the shock causing him to open his mouth and swallow a mouthful of brackish, dirty water. He choked on it, writhing in the blurry depths of the moat and sinking further. His mind was telling him not to panic, that all he had to do was kick up, but his heart was pounding fast and he couldn’t get control of his legs.

Suddenly, as a dark shape shifted somewhere in front of Simon, he remembered that there were merwolves in the moat. They were liable to kill anyone who tried to swim in the moat; a few students had been killed during an ill thought out night of truth or dare once.

He yelled uselessly under the water.

Simon wanted to summon his sword, or use a spell, but he couldn’t think as the icy water pressed against his eardrums and burned his eyes. He was terrified, and there was nothing he could do to stop whatever was about it happen. It looked like Baz would get his wish, Simon Snow dead, and it wouldn’t even be his fault.

Something splashed into the water next to Simon. For a moment, he thought it was another one of the merwolves, and kicked desperately to get away. But then hands were encircling his wrists, and he realized it was a person, that it was _Baz_.

One of the murky shadows around them jetted forward and Simon watched in awe as Baz, yelling something Simon couldn’t understand in the water, shot his wand in the direction of the merwolf. Light shot out of it, and Simon heard an awful gurgling noise come out of the creature. Some of the approaching merwolves paused in their pursuit as the braver one of the pack died.

Baz was pushing Simon, moving him towards what Simon was hoping was the boat. After a minute or so, Simon’s knee connected painfully with wood and he knew they had reached it. Desperately, Simon pushed himself up and over the boat’s edge, with Baz following suit. After a minute or so of grunting and balancing themselves, they managed to flop into the punt.

Baz had saved Simon’s life, and had risked his own to do it.

Simon wasn’t sure what was happening, his universe felt as if it had been flipped upside down. It was raining harder now and Simon felt that, at this point, he owed Baz something huge.

“I’m looking for the six white hares,” Simon gasped out.

Baz turned to cough and his grey eyes locked furiously with Simon’s.

“Quite frankly,” Baz said, “I don’t give a _fuck_ about what you were looking for.”

**Baz**

He’d almost watched Snow die.

As Baz worked to get the punt back to the dock, his shoulders burning, he couldn’t get the image of Snow falling overboard out of his mind. He’d tried to get to him on time but even his vampire enhancements hadn’t been enough. What good was there in being immortally cursed if you couldn’t use it to save the guy you loved?

Snow was sitting in the middle of the boat, as instructed, with all of his limbs inside. He looked vaguely irritated and more than a little ashamed. Baz wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. He knew Snow would want to know why Baz saved him, as if Baz was just some monster that would watch someone drown without a care in the world. But he wasn’t sure what to say to him.

They got to the dock and Baz stormed off the boat.

“Baz wait!”

Baz kept going.

“Look I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to put you at risk!”

The rain was a torrent now, making the grass muddy and unstable.

“Baz!”

He whipped around, narrowing his eyes at Snow.

“You never mean to put anyone at risk, do you Snow? Except for yourself. You don’t care much about _that.”_

Snow shook his head.

“I don't…why do you even care? It’s not like you’ve ever minded before what happens to me.”

Baz wasn’t prepared to be having this conversation but the image of Snow going overboard had been too much, it was forcing the words out of him before he could catch them in time.

“You’re an idiot Snow,” Baz said, practically shouting, “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Snow threw his arms open wide, gesturing all around them.

“So tell me! What else are we going to do on this bloody awful Christmas Eve?”

Baz couldn’t look away from Snow. His hair was plastered to his forehead and looked brown while it was wet. His blue eyes were squinting against the rain and his cheeks were flushed from the cold. The desire to tell him everything came over him like a wave, all the rain collecting into one unstoppable crashing of his feelings.

“I care,” Baz said.

Snow was studying his face.

“I care…Simon.”

And then he stepped forward and kissed him.

For a moment Snow didn’t react, didn't even move. Baz felt it like a crack against his heart and he wondered how he was going to live past that moment. But then Snow’s hands came up into his hair, and he was kissing him back.

Against the freezing rain, Snow’s mouth was the warmest thing Baz had ever felt. Their tongues crashed against one another helplessly, and Baz felt thunder in his chest and lightning in his stomach. He could taste the rain on Snow’s mouth and marveled at it, that he could do this with him.

Snow broke away from the kiss, gasping.

“I care too,” he said.

Baz nodded, heart throbbing.

Snow slid his wet fingers into Baz’s hand and together, they made their way back to their room in the rain.


	5. If Only It Were Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: One Word-Prompt~Dreams

**Baz**

Snow was picking up stones and skipping them across the pond. Well, he wasn’t skipping them so much as tossing them with all of his might and watching them sink with a disappointed expression. Baz smiled as he watched him, admiring the curve of his shoulders and the gleam of his curls in the sun. It was almost sunset and the air around the pond was crisp. Baz had never felt happier.

“You’re not doing it right,” Baz said.

Snow turned and pouted at him.

“Well then you do it, since you’re so smart.”

Baz stood up and wiped the dirt off his hands on his pants.

“Whatever you say,” he said.

He took a small, smooth stone from the bank of the pond and focused on it for a moment. Then, after measuring the distance he wanted the stone to skip in his head, he threw the stone. It skipped gracefully across the water and made small ripples as it went.

He looked at Snow, who was scowling.

“Vampire cheating,” he said.

“Vampire or not,” Baz said, smirking, “I could do that in my sleep.”

Snow pouted.

“I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.”

Baz walked over to him and wrapped his arms around him.

“I know and I love that about you.”

He leaned forward and leaned his forehead against Snow’s.

“I thought you just loved me, period,” Snow said, nudging his nose against his.

Baz leaned in and kissed him, gently.

“I do,” he breathed.

Baz felt the world falling away from him and suddenly he found that he was in his bed back at Watford. He blinked sleepily and sat up, noticing that Snow was asleep in the bed across from him, curled in on himself like he always slept.

It had only been a dream he realized.

Well, the part about Snow loving him back was. In the waking world, Baz was still stuck loving Snow.

He blinked back what he pretended _weren’t_ tears and turned over, hoping this time he’d sleep dreamlessly.


	6. Expelled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Angst
> 
> This takes place right after Baz returns to Watford after his kidnapping.

**Baz**

Baz’s pulse jumped and his hands started to sweat.

He was in the Mage’s office, after being called in. He’d only been back at Watford for an hour or so before he’d been notified that the Mage wanted to see him. He’d known it couldn’t be good; he’d never been called in before except when Snow insisted on it. But it had been worse than he’d ever expected.

“Excuse me?” Baz asked, breathless.

“You’re going to leave Watford,” the Mage said, “And never speak to Simon again. Am I clear?”

Baz shook his head.

“I…do you realize what you’re doing? Do you _want_ a war?”

Baz knew that of course he did, but he had to ask.

The Mage narrowed his eyes at him, finger curled into his ridiculous mustache.

“I want to keep Simon safe, even if it means going to war over it.”

Baz scoffed.

“He is safe. I’m not going to do anything.”

The Mage raised his eyebrows.

“Since when? Haven’t you been attacking Simon since you were children?”

Baz shook his head. Everything about this was wrong. He’d survived a month with the _numpties_ for fuck’s sake. All of that, everything he’d gone through, he’d only managed to endure because of Snow and Watford. Never had he imagined that the Mage would stand in his way after all of that.

“If I’ve been attacking him since we were children,” Baz said, “Then why do you suddenly care now?”

The Mage narrowed his eyes.

“Up until last year you were a student, one who required seventh year to graduate. I would never dishonor your mother’s legacy by denying you an education. But now you’re an eighth year, which is not a required year.”

Baz glared.

“Nothing about what you are doing right now is _honoring_ my mother.”

The Mage leaned forward.

“More importantly, there is the matter of you being in love with Simon.”

Baz couldn’t help it; he reacted against the words, flinching.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Mage sighed and shook his head.

“I was hoping not to do this. But I suppose there’s no other way. Let’s you and I not lie to each other anymore, yes?”

Baz stayed silent.

“I need Simon to stay on my side and fight the humdrum, to stay on task. But you, you’re a distraction. He can never get you out of his head. Someday I believe the boy may listen to your warnings about me and I can’t have it. I need him.”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Baz said, “He hates me. I could never convince him of anything.”

“He’s obsessed with you. Ever since I had those idiotic creatures kidnap you he’s been searching all around Watford, ignoring his duty as the Chosen One.”

Baz rose to his feet, his chair scraping against the wood of the Mage’s office.

_“You’re_ the one who had me kidnapped?”

Fiona had been right after all.

“Of course,” the Mage said, “For a plethora of complicated reasons I really can’t get into. But, more important, is that it affected Simon profoundly and I can’t risk him joining your side.”

Baz narrowed his eyes and reached for his wand.

“He might just join my side when I tell him what you did,” Baz said, “No matter how much he hates me, he would _never_ approve of that.”

The Mage took his own wand out leisurely, as if he was not worried about his own safety at all. Baz didn’t like that he looked like he had a plan.

“You think I don’t know that? Baz, you will either remove yourself from this institution because you love Simon or I will be forced to take away his magic and use it for myself, which might kill him or traumatize him forever.”

Baz felt his stomach roll sickly.

“Why would you do that? He’s the bloody Mage’s Heir!”

“You think I don’t know that!” the Mage yelled, “He means everything to me but he’s not what I need him to be!”

Baz felt hot and cold all at the same time. Everything was happening too fast and he wondered if he might pass out. He really _hadn’t_ been healthy enough to come back.

“He is broken,” the Mage said, “And if you stay, it will only break him more. I cannot let that happen. So either you go or I have to step in.”

Baz remembered all of the times he’d watched Snow mesmerized by the castle walls, or totally entranced by one of Penny’s spells. He remembered how Snow’s face lit up every time they had any sort of celebration in the dining hall. It didn’t matter that Snow had been eating well at Watford for years, he was always still _hungry_. Hungry for just a little bit more of Watford. It was sometimes amazing how much Snow loved Watford.

Baz loved Watford too, but he loved Simon Snow more.

“I’ll do it,” Baz said, “You’re not touching a single hair on his fucking head.”

The Mage nodded, smug as if he’d known this would be the outcome the entire time.

“My family will come after you,” Baz said, “I won’t be able to stop them. They won’t care that I love him.”

The Mage leaned back in his chair and smiled a horrible smile.

“Let them come.”

**Simon**

He couldn’t believe that Baz was back.

His head was buzzing with millions of questions and all he wanted was for Baz to come back to the room to ask him. But he was nowhere to be found so Simon was pacing the room anxiously instead.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs to their room.

He wondered if it was Penny, coming to talk him down again as she had in the dining hall when he’d first arrived.

Baz walked into the room and Simon stopped pacing.

He looked absolutely horrible. His hair was hanging forward messily in his face and his uniform shirt was stained with water. Not water, Simon realized, but tears. His face was streaked with them and his eyes were redder than he’d ever seen them.

Simon had never seen Baz cry before in all the years he’d known him.

“Baz,” Simon said, “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t even sneer at him, he just winced, the tears falling faster.

“I wish,” Baz said, “That there was some other way. That this could be different.”

Simon shook his head and took a step forward.

“Baz whatever this is let me help.”

He had no idea why he was offering to help. Maybe it had been because of Baz’s mother’s visit, that now he saw Baz as a person with feelings and not just a monster. Maybe it was because Baz crying was the saddest thing Simon had ever seen, and he’d seen a lot of sadness in his lifetime.

“You can’t,” Baz said, “I’m sorry Simon. I…really am.”

Simon grabbed one of Baz’s clenched fists.

“Stop just, c’mon please talk to me,” Simon said.

As he held onto Baz’s clenched fist, he forgot about his other one and let his guard down. Baz’s face became utterly anguished and then he brought his free fist forward, punching Simon in the face.

Simon fell to the floor and held onto his throbbing jaw. But in that moment he wasn’t thinking about the pain, or about himself, instead he was scrambling to try and get up, staring at Baz in horror.

_“Baz the roommate’s anathema!”_

Simon jumped and threw his arms around air, crashing loudly to the floor.

Baz was gone.

**Baz**

He stood outside of the gates to Watford and fell to his knees. It was over; everything good in his life had been stolen from him. The tears began to fall more rapidly then, and soon Baz was shaking. He hadn’t meant to start crying, he hadn’t expected Snow to give a shit, and he hadn’t expected to feel so empty.

He kept replaying the moment in his mind when Snow had realized what was happening, the horror that had washed over his expression and the desperation. He didn’t understand why Snow had reacted that way.

And now he never would.

He curled in on himself, and in the quiet dark of early night he let himself cry the way he hadn’t in the coffin.

What was the point of escaping if, once you did, you found yourself in a new prison? One that had no escape.


	7. Don't Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Favorite Trope~Friends W/ Benefits
> 
> I did a chaptered series once with a friends with benefits situation. It was my favorite to write so I decided to do a one shot eighth year fwb fic. Just a heads up, this one is a bit nsfw (not much tho).

**Simon**

He waited in the library, tapping his fingers nervously on his book. He was hoping not to run into Penny but he knew his chances were high being in the library. So he kept his eyes out for her half the time and well, the other half for Baz. Who was twenty minutes late. Simon wondered if maybe Baz had backed out or if he’d realized that snogging someone who you’re destined to face on a battlefield someday was a bad idea. The thought had certainly crossed Simon’s mind.

It had all started a week ago when, in the middle of a fight in their room and with no ability to physically fight because of the roommate’s anathema, Simon had kissed Baz. To his surprise, Baz had kissed him back and it had been the hottest kiss of his life. But they hadn’t talked about it or done it again after that. Until Baz had approached him last night and asked if Simon wanted to make it a regular thing, in secret of course.

Simon had never had a friends with benefit situation before, and he’d certainly not had one with someone like Baz. The idea of kissing him, and not in the middle of a fight, had him nervous.

Finally, Simon saw Baz enter the library, walking casually as if he wasn’t already twenty minutes late to their meeting. He didn’t say a word to Simon or even look at him but as he passed the table he was sitting at he tilted his head just enough to tell Simon to follow him.

Simon waited a minute so it wouldn’t be obvious what he was doing and then he stood up and went in the same direction Baz had.

They eventually ended up in one of the emptiest sections of the library, the children’s nursery rhyme collection. It was necessary to have in the library since children’s books often held the most powerful spells, but no student ever had an interest in willingly checking one of these out.

“I thought you’d changed your mind,” Simon said.

Baz gave him a cool look.

“I almost did.”

Simon didn’t say anything else, he was through with talking.

Baz moved forward, faster than Simon had the last time, and kissed him.

The meeting of their lips made Simon sigh in relief. He’d been fantasizing about it far too long and now that it was happening it felt like drinking water after being dehydrated for days. Baz pressed him into the bookshelf and brought his hands up into Simon’s hair. Simon opened his mouth and then they were actually kissing and it was better than last time because he wasn’t furious and Baz’s kisses were making him feel so good.

He had to remember that this was all there was to this, that it was kissing and nothing else. Because as they slid down the bookshelf and onto the carpeted floor, Simon couldn’t help but wish they could be something more.

**Baz**

It was stupid to be snogging in the library when they had a perfectly private room to themselves already. But Baz had insisted on it because he knew that if they did this in their room that it would be too intimate. If they took it farther than kissing he knew it would be too much and he would admit to his feelings in a moment of weakness. Baz couldn’t do that, not when it looked more and more each day like he and Snow would have to fight one another in a war neither of them had ever asked for.

Snow tugged on Baz’s hair, making Baz’s hands tighten reflexively on his waist. Their ties had long since been abandoned and there were more than a few buttons undone on both of their shirts. Snow’s hair looked wonderfully ruffled and his blue eyes were shining with admiration instead of their usual glower for Baz. It made his chest hurt and he went back to kissing Snow’s neck.

“Baz,” Snow whispered.

“Don’t talk,” Baz said, nipping his neck.

“But I wish-“

“I know,” Baz said, breaking away, “I know I just…don’t talk, okay?”

Snow nodded.

As Snow pushed him back onto the carpet Baz wondered if there was any way for them to keep control of this without being burned. Then he realized that no, they were Simon Snow and Baz Pitch, there was no way that it wouldn’t end beautifully catastrophic.

But then Snow climbed on top of it and he didn’t care anymore.


	8. A Deadly Maze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 8: Hogwarts AU  
> This is a continuation of the Hogwarts AU that I did for last year’s countdown which you can read on my tumblr :)

**Simon**

The maze was nothing that Simon couldn’t handle. After hours of dodging an assortment of creatures he felt like he was finally on his way to reaching the end of the maze. People had complained when Simon’s name came out of the goblet of fire along with Baz’s. They’d said that it wasn’t fair to have the Chosen One participate and that the Headmaster had rigged it. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter very much. Simon hadn’t put his own name in but once it had been spit out of the goblet he hadn’t had much choice.

Baz was running beside him. They’d been working together since the beginning of the tournament, which had caused uproar in it of itself. Everyone had been spoiling for a cutthroat competition between the two of them. After years of animosity between the two of them Simon had been expecting it too. But then Baz had promised that they would do this together and everything had changed.

An acromantula stepped in front of them and seemingly without thinking about it Baz raised his wand.

_“Petrificus Totalus!”_ Baz shouted.

The creature froze and rolled onto its back.

Baz grabbed Simon’s stunned hand.

“C’mon we have to move.”

Simon nodded and ran with him.

They’d decided that they would do everything in their power to win. A bunch of strange and dangerous things had happened throughout the competition and they were worried that the Humdrum might try to take advantage of the maze. The sooner someone won it the sooner everyone else would be out of the dangerous maze.

Simon didn’t let go of Baz’s hand. Somehow it felt better that they held onto one another in the fear-inducing maze. Baz’s hand was cold and steady even though Simon was certain that his own was slick with sweat.

In the distance Simon saw something glowing.

“I see the cup!” he shouted.

Baz ran faster and Simon tried his best to keep up.

He should just let Baz go, let him reach the cup first, Simon thought. Being a vampire, Simon was sure Baz could run faster than he was. But the idea of letting Baz go was too frightening for Simon, after everything else he’d seen. What if, when Baz won, Simon somehow ended up left in the maze?

Finally they reached the pedestal with the trophy.

“We did it,” Simon gasped.

Baz shook his head.

“That was too easy. I don’t like this.”

Simon raised his eyebrows.

“Too easy? We nearly died like three times in there.”

Baz frowned.

“I guess it doesn’t matter now. Let’s grab it at the same time.”

Simon nodded and poised his hand above one handle.

“One,” Simon said.

“Two,” Baz said.

“Three,” they said in unison.

They grabbed the cup and then the world went into chaos.

**Baz**

He rolled over and saw that he was definitely not in front of a cheering crowd of Hogwarts students. He was in the snow in some little town he didn’t recognize. When he sat up he realized something else. Something much _much_ worse.

“This isn’t Hogwarts,” Baz said.

Simon groaned, his face flat in the snow, and sat up.

“What do you mean?”

There was a figure somewhere off in the distance.

“Simon,” Baz said, “Get up. Something is seriously wrong.”

Simon looked around and froze, his expression horrified.

“This…this was the orphanage I lived in until Headmaster David brought me to Hogwarts.”

Baz pointed.

“Someone is coming.”

The figure had turned into many figures. Eventually a cloaked figure stopped a couple of feet before them and Baz wondered if it was the humdrum. But no, if it was the Humdrum then he would feel that dry, sucking sensation that always accompanied him. And, as far as he knew, the Humdrum didn’t have a band of loyal cronies.

“It was a portkey,” Baz said, “Simon we need to get out of here _now_. Grab it!”

“The Chosen One was never meant to be here,” one of the followers hissed.

“Nevermind that,” the leader in the cloak rumbled, “Focus on the boy.”

Before Simon could lift a finger or move, the cloaked figure raised his wand.

_“Avada Kedavra!”_

Baz barely managed to doge the killing curse. It had almost landed and had been close enough to set his heart racing. Simon was up on his feet now, body shielding Baz’s.

_“Expelliarmus!”_ Simon shouted.

At the exact same time the cloaked figure yelled his own spell, wand raised.

_“Crucio!”_

Both spells landed.

The cloaked leaders wand fell away at the exact same instant that Simon fell to the ground in pain. Baz, ignoring how much the sight of Simon being tormented affected him, grabbed the Triwizard cup and Simon’s hand at the same time.

They ended up in the cheering crowd of Hogwarts students, music was playing and banners were being thrust into the air. Baz didn’t care about any of them; his focus was on Simon who was, somehow, still under the Cruciatus Curse. His body was twitching and writhing and he was groaning with unimaginable pain.

_“Someone help!”_ Baz shouted, _“Please he’s been hurt!”_

Nobody seemed to realize that something was wrong.

_“I need help!”_ Baz shouted.

He didn’t know how to stop this. He’d assumed once they were away from the wizard who had done the curse that it would stop, that was what should have happened. But Simon was still in excruciating pain and Baz could do nothing but hold him.

They had said the Chosen One wasn’t supposed to be there. Which meant that Simon had taken one of the three unforgivable curses because of Baz. The thought made him sick. He’d never meant to put the boy he loved in so much danger.

Finally Penny was running down from the stands. Her expression was happy and a little confused, until she saw the tears running down Baz’s face and Simon’s body. She shrieked, loudly enough that some of the staff noticed that something was wrong, and ran to them.

“What happened?” she asked.

Baz felt more tears roll down his face.

“It was a trap,” Baz said, “Someone was there…”

“Was it the Humdrum? Trying to kill Simon?”

Baz shook his head.

“It was someone else, someone who was after me…” he said.

At that moment Ebb pushed through to them and looked at Simon. She had the saddest expression on her face and Baz got the feeling that she’d seen this curse in action before. Raising her wand, she used the bewitched sleep spell and Simon’s body finally stopped moving. Baz watched in relief as his face smoothed out, no longer pained. He stroked Simon’s cheek and didn’t even care that Penny was watching him.

“Who did this?” Ebb asked.

“I don’t know!” Baz said, frustrated, “At first I thought it was the Humdrum. That he’d been the one to put Simon’s name in the goblet. But they were after me. They said Simon was never supposed to be there.”

Penny frowned.

“The Pitch family has always participated in the Triwizard Tournament. Whoever was after you knew that and was pretty confident you could win.”

Baz shook his head.

“Then who put Simon’s name into the fire? It doesn’t make sense.”

Penny’s eyes widened.

“Someone who wanted to protect you,” she whispered, “But couldn’t talk to you. Someone who had one chance to make sure you lived.”

He knew what she was referring to. The Visitings had happened while he’d been kidnapped earlier in the year. Baz had made it back just in time to put his own name in the goblet of fire, but before that his mother would have been able to do something if she thought his life was in danger. A ghost couldn’t set off the goblet’s defensive spells.

Ebb woke Simon to see if he was okay and he sat up, coughing.

“Simon,” Baz said, hand rubbing his back, “Simon are you okay?”

He felt a burst of happiness when Simon leaned his body into Baz’s, as if seeking comfort.

“I know,” Simon coughed, “I know who it was.”

Baz frowned.

“Who?”

Simon looked up at him.

“Headmaster David,” he whispered.


	9. A Burned Boquet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 9: One Word Prompt~Flowers  
> This is a short little fic that takes place right after the chimera battle in their third year.

**Baz**

They were absolutely filthy and Baz was pretty sure that his uniform was still on fire somewhere.

Snow looked utterly exhausted and some of the edges of his curls looked singed. Baz was worried that he might have been responsible for that at some point.

The chimera had definitely been a bad idea, especially when it had gone after him instead of Snow. He didn’t really know why he had done it, he just kept feeling so strange around Snow lately and he was sick of it. He’d thought that one big prank would be enough to put everything back into balance, but it hadn’t. In fact, Baz felt stranger than he had before.

It was probably because when Snow had gone off, it had been the most powerful, uncontrollable power he had ever seen and yet Snow had made sure it hadn’t hurt him. Something about that had made his stomach flutter and his heart beat faster.

He could tell Snow was pissed off at him and he didn’t blame him. It had been a stupid and mean thing for him to do.

“I’m sorry,” Baz said.

Snow snorted disbelievingly.

“Really I am,” Baz said, “That was risky and uncalled for.”

Snow looked at him, obviously still pissed but deciding to talk to him.

“Why do you hate me so much? Besides the stuff with your family and the Mage.”

Because of the way you make me feel. Baz shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

Snow frowned and looked away.

“Maybe it’s not so much that I hate you that it is…I don’t know how to be nice to you.”

“You could start by not summoning chimeras.”

Baz laughed.

“Yeah that would be a good start.”

The entire area around them crunched as they walked. Most of the greenery had been blasted into obscurity but Baz spotted a semi-decent looking patch of wildflowers. He walked over to them and plucked them, dusting what ash he could off of them. Then he walked back over to Snow.

He handed them to him, blushing.

Snow took them, looking confused but happy.

“What’s this?”

Baz smiled.

“Me trying to be nice.”


	10. Clarity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 10: Song Inspired   
> This is an 8th year fic in which Baz never comes back after Fiona saves him from the numpties and Watford and the Old Families go to war. It’s inspired by the song Clarity by Zedd feat. Foxes.

**Simon**

Simon felt hot blood pulse out of the cut on his forehead. For once, he wished the Humdrum would show itself, just to interrupt all of the fighting. The battle raged outside of Watford and Simon wasn’t even sure anymore why he was fighting. The children were in their rooms and Simon knew the Old Families wouldn’t hurt them anyways. They were after the Mage.

Simon wasn’t sure they were wrong to be after the Mage, after what Penny had found out. She’d told Simon, right before the battle, that it had been confirmed on record that he had killed Baz’s mother. Even if he didn’t agree with the Old Families on how to run Watford, he knew it was wrong for a murderer to be leading the school.

Still, as soon as he’d walked on the field he’d become an instant target for the Old Families and he was fighting for his life.

He wished he could end the fight but that was currently Penny’s job. She was delivering the evidence of the Mage’s treasonous acts to the Coven and Simon hoped they would come to arrest him, stopping the fighting. Until then, however, Simon had to try to stop the Old Families from killing people.

Some of the Mage’s Men were already dead. Simon hoped that none of the bodies were Penny’s brother but he couldn’t stop to look. He was finally breaking through the Old Families’ lines and was hoping to run into someone important to tell them the news.

Instead, once he broke out of the thick of the fighting and behind their lines, he rain into Baz.

Baz’s expression was grim and Simon could tell that he was as unenthusiastic about the fighting as Simon was. He’d been thinking about Baz a lot lately, about how different Watford was without him and about how much more he was to Simon than just his enemy. It hurt to see him, wand ready and face grim, behind the swarming of bodies.

_“Baz!”_ Simon shouted.

You had to shout to be heard over all the fighting.

Baz locked gazes with Simon and his entire expression fell. He looked miserable, like he was facing his worst nightmare.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Baz said.

Simon shook his head.

“So don’t. I came to tell you that Penny is brining your evidence to the Coven. We need to stop this.”

Baz winced.

“Snow, there’s no stopping this. The Coven will want to arrest him. My family wants his blood.”

Simon growled.

“If they do that then they’ll all be arrested. Everything they’ve dreamed of, coming back and fixing Watford, will be taken from them. They’re your family, can’t you do something?”

Baz stormed over to him and grabbed him by the shirtfront.

“You think I haven’t been trying?” Baz demanded, “I just found out that bastard killed my mother and I’ve been arguing with my family for _you.”_

Simon blinked.

“What are you talking about?”

The Mage’s Men had broken the Old Families’ lines and the fighting was all around them. Soon, someone would realize that Simon and Baz weren’t really fighting and kill one or both of them. Simon had run out of time, he only hoped that Penny would be able to pick up the pieces and save the World of Mages.

“I mean,” Baz said, “That I knew that if we brought war to Watford, you’d be at the front lines. I _tried_ to stop this. There is no stopping this.”

Simon knew Baz was right. There had been too much anger boiling for far too long and this new information had tipped it over the edge. But he didn’t want to think about that anymore, he wanted to think about how close Baz was to him and how much he had missed him.

“Why do you care what happens to me?”

Baz’s face fell in sadness.

“You have to know by now,” Baz said.

Simon tried to drown out the yells around them.

“I didn’t,” Simon said, “Not before just now.”

Baz laughed, but it sounded sad.

“I want to know what it’s like,” Simon said, “Just this once. Before someone kills us both. Kiss me.”

Baz shook his head.

“We should be trying to get you out of here, or maybe fight our way to the Mage ourselves. We should-“

Simon shook his head.

There were too many enemies all around them. There was no way they would make it out of this fight alive. Not without a miracle. This was their last chance, their only chance.

“They might kill us both just for doing it,” Baz said.

Simon pushed his hands into Baz’s hair.

“I don’t care.”

He brought Baz’s head down the two or so inches required so that their lips were level with one another.

“I love you,” Baz whispered.

“I love you too,” Simon said.

Then their lips met and Simon forgot about the rest of the world.

**Baz**

Baz was kissing Simon Snow and he was pretty sure the world was going to end.

The fighting was all around them and someone was eventually going to notice them kissing and ruin it but for the moment Baz didn’t care. All he’d ever wanted was for Snow to love him back, to be able to kiss him. He had gotten everything he had ever asked for and even with death upon them he considered himself to be lucky.

Snow’s hands were touching him everywhere and Baz couldn’t help but do the same. This was all they would ever have, this moment and he wanted to commit everything he could to memory. If there was another life after this one, he wanted to make sure he could remember the feel of Snow’s body under his hands and the sweetness of his mouth.

They had always been damned, since the day they had met. Their lives were never meant to end well; they’d danced for far too long along the line that separated the two of them from each other. But, regardless of how much it hurt and how doomed it was, Baz couldn’t help loving him.

They kissed while the rest of the world burned around them.

**Penny**

She’d worried she was too late when she brought the Coven to the battlefield. All she could think of was Simon dead on a spike, while the Pitchs stared on in satisfaction. But when she’d gotten to the Watford’s Great Lawn, it was like the fight was frozen.

Besides some minor fighting on the fringes, everyone else had stopped to stare at Simon.

Not just to stare at Simon, but to stare at Simon kissing Baz.

It was like something out of a movie, the two of them kissing. They had blood and dirt all over them and there were a few bodies scattered here and there. But they looked beautiful. Everyone had seemingly stopped fighting to stare at the two of them.

When they broke apart, they looked around them and back at each other.

Then they smiled.


	11. Home Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 11: Catching a Cold  
> I know that vampires get sick but I decided to ignore that, lol. This is a little eighth year fic.

**Simon**

Simon raised an eyebrow when he got back from his classes and entered his room. Baz was in bed and there were tissues _everywhere_. Baz was glaring at him and his cheeks were flushed.

Simon approached one of the tissues and picked it up, smirking.

“Having a good time by yourself in here?”

Baz smirked meanly.

“Not really no,” he said, “I have a cold.”

Simon looked down at the tissue he was holding and let it go quickly, wishing he had some hand sanitizer.

“Interesting though that if I _had_ been wanking off you were completely comfortable picking those tissues up.”

Simon felt his cheeks heat.

“Whatever,” he said, “You’d better not get me sick.”

**Baz**

Snow was sick.

Baz knew it was his fault and normally he would have felt secretly bad about it except that it meant that Snow was in the room all the time. Even though Baz acted like he hated it, it was comforting to have Snow around while he hacked his lungs out and felt like he was dying.

Snow was definitely not comforted by Baz’s presence. He kept glaring at him over his tissue stuffed nose and grumbling whenever he passed Baz’s bed to go to the bathroom. Penny brought him up food every couple of hours or so and was decent enough to bring some for Baz too. He decided not to report her.

“I cannot believe you got me sick,” Snow said.

His voice sounded funny all stuffed up. It was annoying and adorable all at once, which was a pretty accurate way to describe his feelings for Snow in general.

“I can’t believe you grabbed what you thought was a wank tissue,” Baz said.

Snow clucked his tongue in his mouth.

“You just can’t let that go can you?” Snow asked angrily.

Baz giggled, actually giggled.

“No,” he laughed, “Could you if I did it?”

He watched as Snow lost control over his angry expression. Eventually he gave in and started laughing with Baz.

“Fine,” Snow said, “I’ll give you that.”

He was smiling at Baz, something he never did.

Baz felt like shit and his body was falling apart. But he had never felt more alive.

**Simon**

Being sick with Baz wasn’t so bad. He had a Netflix account so they spent a lot of time watching shitty horror movies and comedies. Because it was a laptop with a small Simon had suggested they push their beds together so they could both watch it at the same time. They hadn’t bothered to separate them, even though they often took naps, it just took too much effort to put them back when they wanted to watch Netflix again.

Penny kept giving them strange looks when she came to bring them food. She could never stay very long because she didn't want to get sick but she always managed to give Simon a raised eyebrow on her way out the door.

“I thought vampires couldn’t get sick,” Simon said.

They were watching _True Blood_.

“They don't,” Baz said.

Simon looked at him.

“C’mon Baz, I know you’re a vampire, how are you sick?”

Baz gave him a long look.

“I’m not a vampire,” Baz said, “But if I _were_ one I’d tell you that most information about vampires is just guess work. Mage doctors haven’t had the opportunity to study them.”

“Huh,” Simon said.

Baz reached for a tissue from the tissue box that was on the side table. It caused him to arc over Simon’s chest. Simon felt his own heart rate increase, his stomach flipping nervously.

“Maybe you’re just a shitty vampire,” Simon said to distract himself.

Baz blew his nose and rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a vampire,” he said, “Remember?”

**Baz**

Simon Snow was in his arms.

Baz had fallen asleep watching Netflix. Snow must have done the same at some point because he was snoring on Baz’s chest.

He didn’t care that Snow was drooling on him or that his nose had probably leaked mucus on his nightshirt. All he could do was feel giddy and stupid about it. He knew he should wake Snow up; he would be pissed if he woke up like that and Baz was just watching him, but he didn’t want it to end.

“Snow,” he murmured.

Snow nestled closer.

“Wake up,” he said a little louder.

Snow groaned and sat up a little, blinking. His blue eyes looked red and Baz knew Snow’s head was probably throbbing. His eyes widened when he noticed where he was but he didn’t move.

“Please don’t be mad at me,” Snow said.

Baz didn’t know how to hide his feelings in that moment.

“I’m not,” Baz said.

Snow studied his face.

“Are you…happy?” Snow asked.

Baz stayed silent.

Snow’s eyes flickered to Baz’s mouth.

“Don’t kill me for this,” Snow whispered.

He leaned forward and kissed him.

Baz’s throat ached and his nose was running but he kissed Snow back anyways. He felt like his lips were being electrocuted in the best possible way. Snow shifted closer, causing tissues to move and fall away from the bed. Baz gathered Snow up into his arms.

Snow broke away, gasping.

“I’m sorry…I can’t breathe out of my nose.”

Baz laughed.

“We’re too sick for this.”

Snow snuggled into him, wrapping his arms around him.

“But not for this.”

Baz rubbed Snow’s back.

“Yeah,” he said happily, “This we can manage.”


	12. A Mother's Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 12: Side Characters  
> This is a small fic about Natasha. I wish we knew more about her time during the afterlife.

**Natasha**

She felt cold. Which wasn’t new but as she floated through the halls of Watford she realized how wrong it was to be so cold in a place like this.

She’d been searching for her son for a while now and she was running out of time. Natasha knew he wasn’t dead, she could feel his life force pounding through her almost as it had during her pregnancy. But she knew he was different, she could feel that he’d changed. She’d suspected as much when she’d died in the nursery. The last thing she’d seen was the vampire bite into her son’s neck.

Natasha wished she could have seen Baz sooner. She wanted to tell him that it was okay that he was a vampire, that she was glad that he was alive and at Watford. She knew her son wasn’t a murderer, that Malcolm would have found a way to feed him without Baz feeding off of others. If her son was alive, she didn’t care what his diet consisted of.

She suspected that it bothered him though. Her family was strict and held old beliefs. In her time in the afterlife she’d had time to reflect on those beliefs. She certainly didn’t like David. He’d murdered her, threatened her son’s life and countless others, practically given Lucy Salisbury a death sentence, and continued to abuse his own son. But as she watched all the little ones running through Watford with grins on their faces she couldn’t help but agree that she had been wrong. Watford _was_ big enough for everyone.

His son would make a much better headmaster, even if he couldn’t control his magic. He believed the same things that David did but without the greed and violence.She wished she could tell him that but she only had time for her son.

Natasha stood above the seemingly sleeping Simon Snow. He was a beautiful boy and she suspected that her son must have noticed his beauty too. She couldn’t explain why else she was called to this room, a room he hadn’t even known until he was eleven years old. She had expected the house or maybe even the living quarters in her old office to be his place but no, his place was sleeping beside the golden child. She smiled even as the thought made her sad. Wherever her son was, he had to be missing Simon.

She knew she was about to ruin Simon’s night and she wished there was another way to do what needed to be done. But there wasn’t, so she took a step forward and took in a sharp breath.


	13. Laundry Lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 13: Domestic  
> I had my own unfinished laundry in mind when I wrote this. I hope you like it!

**Simon**

The basket of laundry fought Simon at every turn as he made his way downstairs towards their flat’s laundry facilities. The plastic handles felt close to snapping and the clothes kept threatening to spill over from one side or the other. His arms were beginning to ache and he wished he could just use his wings a little bit but the last time he’d done that Penny had caught him and told him not to risk it in front of the Normals.

He almost groaned in relief when, on the third to last step on the stairs, he saw Baz pull up and get out of his car.

“Babe,” Simon said, “I need help.”

Baz strode over and grabbed the basket easily. His vampire enhancements came in handy every now and again.

“Mm, dirty boxers. Very sexy,” Baz said.

“Shut it,” Simon said, leaning over to kiss him quickly.

Then he was rushing towards the laundry room.

“Why are we going so fast?”

Simon frowned.

“It’s a Sunday,” he explained, “Everyone does their laundry on Saturday or Sunday. I want to get a machine.”

When he entered the laundry room he saw that a washing machine was mercifully open. He rushed over to claim it and waited impatiently for Baz to catch up to him. Baz frowned as he approached the machine.

“Hm,” he said.

Simon took the basket from him and started throwing the clothes into the machine.

“What?” he asked, only half paying attention.

“It’ll just be interesting to watch.” Simon snorted.

“Yeah, sure, I always love a good laundry viewing,” Simon said.

Baz shook his head.

“No,” he said, “I meant it’ll be interesting to watch because I’ve never done it.”

Simon frowned at him, a pair of dingy socks in his hand.

“You’ve never been to a laundry facility?”

He could see how that might be when he thought about Baz’s family home. He had only been over a few times but Simon got the impression that they had their own laundry facilities in their house. He couldn’t picture Baz’s father on the way to a laundromat.

“I’ve never done laundry before,” Baz said.

Simon dropped the socks in his hand.

“You _what?”_ Simon said.

Baz’s cheeks flushed slightly pink.

“I just,” he said, “Well you’ve seen my house. And I always used magic at school.”

Simon frowned.

“That is just…I can’t decide if it’s more spoiled or sad.”

Baz shrugged.

“Both probably.”

Simon smiled at him.

“Well c’mon, let me teach you. I can’t let my posh boyfriend go on not knowing how to wash his own clothes.”

Baz smirked.

“All right.”

**Baz**

It turned out that laundry was stressful business. You had to be very careful not to accidentally mix up your clothes, _especially_ if you owned anything red. And then there was measuring the soap and putting the machine on the right setting. Simon said it was important to keep an eye on your machine and your stuff. All of it was new and strange to Baz, but he felt better that he was finally learning how to do it.

Simon sat on top of the dryer where his clothes were spinning around rapidly. It made his body shake slightly. Baz leaned into him and put his hands on either side of his waist.

“Seems like a lot of work when you could just have Penny spell it clean,” Baz said, “Or me.”

Simon rolled his eyes.

“The both of you are ridiculous about wasting magic. Not sure how _I_ ended up with the evil magic sucking twin.”

Baz leaned in and kissed him.

“I like that you clean like a Normal,” he said, “It’s cute.”

Simon frowned.

“I was hoping for something more like humble or sexy,” he said, “But I’ll settle for cute.”

Baz grinned.

“So,” Baz said, kissing Simon’s nose, “Will you teach me how to fold clothes next?”

Baz laughed as Simon’s eyes practically bugged out of his skull.

He hoped Simon never ran out of things to teach him.


	14. Beauty and the Beast AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has also been posted to my Beauty and the Beast fic on AO3. For Disney/Fairytale Retelling I decided to update my beauty and the beast AU with another chapter. The previous chapters are available on here.

**Simon**

Simon woke up with a start, his neck sore. At first he wondered if he’d twisted it wrong or done something during the night and then, as he lifted his fingers to the source of the pain, the night before came rushing back to him.

“Does it hurt badly?”

Baz was sitting across the room from him, staring with wide, serious eyes.

Simon swallowed hard.

“Only a little.”

Baz nodded.

Somehow Simon felt that something was very wrong. He didn’t know why he thought so exactly, but it had something to do with Baz’s expression. Flashes of last night kept going through his mind, the wolves circling and Baz’s blood soaked shirt standing out in his memory.

“Do you feel better?” Simon asked.

Baz stood and walked out towards his rose in the glass.

“I do,” he said, “Thank you, again.”

Simon nodded. It felt awkward to talk to him now. After everything that had passed between them last night it felt as if the air was thick with tension. Simon couldn’t stop thinking about how, after everything else, Baz had come to save him. And then there had been the matter of giving Baz his own blood. It had hurt at first; though that hadn’t surprised him that much, he’d been prepared for the pain. But then his whole body had gone fuzzy and he’d felt like he was floating.

Simon’s blood was rushing in Baz’s veins, a thought that caused Simon’s cheeks to flush with warmth.

“Something wrong?” Baz asked.

“No,” Simon said, “I Just don’t know where we stand.”

Baz looked away.

“Look I…I’m letting you go.”

Simon frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Baz’s hands clenched into fists.

“I don’t want to hold you here as a prisoner anymore,” he said, “For one thing, you’re not very good at it.”

Simon smirked.

“But,” Baz continued, “More importantly, you’re different from your father. I can’t keep you here to pay for his crimes.”

Simon felt his heart thump unevenly.

“You’re setting me free then, for good?”

Baz nodded.

“Just let me know when you’re ready to go and I’ll have a carriage prepared.”

Simon nodded.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to leave though. The idea of going back to the village, back to Agatha, and back to his _father_ made his stomach twist. He didn’t want to face them after what his father had done to him. Besides, there was a part of him that didn’t want to say goodbye to Baz.

“I think I should stay though,” Simon said, “At least for a little while. So I can gain my strength.”

He pointed to the bite on his neck.

Baz flinched a little bit.

“Yes of course,” he said, “You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive. I’ll go fetch you some breakfast.”

Baz started to leave the room.

“Baz?” Simon asked.

Baz’s back was to him and his hand was on the door. The muscles in his back looked as tense as he’d ever seen them.

“Why don’t you bring your own breakfast up? That way we can eat together.”

It was silent for so long that Simon thought Baz might actually refuse his request. But, finally, he nodded and abruptly left the room.


	15. A Box in the Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Simon is the kind of guy that would adopt any puppy he came across.

**Simon**

Simon had been an idiot to deicide to walk home to his flat. Out of nowhere in the middle of his walk home it had started pouring rain. He knew Baz was going to give him crap for this and he knew he would deserve it. At this rate he would be late and soaking for their date.

He almost missed the box while he ran through the park as a shortcut to his flat. But a small yelp had grabbed his attention and caused him to skid out and look for the source.

There was a soaking box in front of one of the water slick park benches. When he got closer to the box he saw a small brown puppy inside of it. It looked like a tiny Labrador.

The puppy looked up at Simon with big brown eyes and his tail began to wag. He leaned up and licked Simon’s face.

“Oh crap,” Simon whispered.

**Baz**

Simon was twenty-five minutes late for their date. Baz was standing in front of the window glaring out at the street. He wanted to know the minute Simon arrived, carrying some sort of last minute snack no doubt.

Simon did have something under his coat when he finally came home but Baz was confused by the protective nature of Simon’s posture. It was like he had something in his jumper that needed to be shielded from the rain.

He came into the flat and looked around, eyes wide.

“Hey is Penny here?” he asked.

Baz crossed his arms across his chest.

“No but _I_ am,” he said, “You know, for our date.”

Simon smiled sheepishly.

“I’m really sorry, but look!”

Simon shifted his jumper just so and lifted a puppy out from underneath it.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Baz said.

Baz had recently moved in to the flat with Penny and Simon and now Simon was dropping a puppy on him out of nowhere.

“He was in the park in a box. I couldn’t just leave him there.”

Baz shook his head.

“We can’t keep him.”

Simon pouted.

“Why not?”

Baz shook his head and threw out his arms helplessly.

“We’ve never owned a pet!”

Simon pressed the puppy up to Baz’s face.

“Here’s our first!”

The puppy licked Baz’s face and instantly Baz’s heart melted. The puppy was making small, excited noises and squirming in Simon’s hands trying to get closer to Baz. Without necessarily deciding to, Baz lifted his hands and grabbed the puppy, cradling him on his chest while he excitedly licked Baz’s chin.

“What’s his name?” Baz asked.

“Butter,” Simon smiled, “Wait, does this mean we can keep him?”

Baz smiled and kissed Butter’s head.

“He has a ridiculous name but yes, I say we can keep him.”

Simon kissed Baz over Butter.

“You’ll have to convince Penny though,” Baz said.

Simon’s face fell.

“Oh crap.”


	16. Dracula

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been working on this for awhile and thought it would be fun to use it for crossover day :) So here’s a Dracula AU. If you end up liking it, definitely check out more (I've decided to turn it into a chaptered fic).

**Simon**

Simon adjusted his hat so that it sat on his unkempt curls just right and straightened his coat with a sharp jerk on the lapels. The mirror revealed to him a confused and overall unprepared man. He sighed unhappily and turned away, not needing any more discouragement for his trip.

He planned to meet Count Grimm at Castle Pitch in only a few days time and he already felt completely unfit for the task. It was true that generally speaking he was a halfway decent solicitor, but this client was different. His father had made all the necessary arrangements and had, at last minute, decided to back out. He was now delegating the job to Simon. The Count was said to be charming, cultured, and quite intimidating. They’d only corresponded through a few short letters but already Simon knew his father’s choice was a mistake; Simon was being hopelessly outclassed.

He turned and grabbed his bags, frowning at the thought of days in a train and on horseback. Simon didn’t mind travel so much; he just hated feeling constrained for such a long period of time. There was a part of him, living in the bustle and activity of London, that yearned to exist away from the expectations that existed for him there.

As he reached the bottom of the stairway he saw his dad standing against the doorframe, blocking the view of the carriage waiting on the street for him. He smirked and pushed himself off the wall, rubbing his thin mustache as he approached Simon.

“My son, I know you’ll make me proud,” He said.

Simon bit his nail nervously.

“Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity, father.”

His father nodded, as if he’d been waiting for Simon to say that since he’d given him the job a few weeks ago. It felt like he was testing him, trying to figure out whether or not Simon could properly carry on the Snow family legacy.

He straightened and cleared his throat.

“Well, I think I should probably get going,” Simon said.

With that, Simon walked away from his father without so much as a proper goodbye. It was just the way they were, no hugs or other embellishments of love. Sometimes Simon wondered what it would be like to have someone tell him they loved him, he hadn’t heard the words since his mother had died when he was a young boy.

As he approached the carriage he felt his stomach flip nervously. He hadn’t the slightest idea why, but he felt as if he was on the edge of something dangerous, as if whatever lay on the other side of this journey would threaten to undo the balance that was his bland existence. As he threw himself onto the seat with a grunt he decided that, even if that were the case, he was ready for a change. He only hoped he wouldn’t screw it up.

* * *

 

As Simon left the inn he’d been staying at in Bistritz, he had to try to peel off one of the women who worked there from his body. The staff had been giving him strange looks the entire time he’d been there, some of them were even making the cross symbol when they came across him. On more than one occasion people, both employees of the establishment and the locals, had warned him that it might be best for him to simply head back home. They felt that he was not fit to handle whatever awaited him at Castle Pitch. Simon tried not to panic over the warnings; after all he couldn’t abandon the job and come back home to his father empty handed. But he couldn’t help but feel a frisson of unease after so many had tried to send him away.

As he settled in to the carriage, the entire inn came out to see him off. Their faces were solemn and not one of them waved Simon off as he left. Somehow that frightened him more than all of their collective warnings had.

* * *

 

At the Borgo Pass there was no awaiting carriage as had been designated before hand. Simon sat, perturbed, next to his luggage and wondered what had possibly gone wrong. He sincerely hoped the mistake had not been one of his own making. He knew his father would have his hide if he ruined this business transaction over miscommunication.

“Sir,” the driver said.

Simon looked up at him.

“Yes?”

The man’s eyes darted around fearfully before settling on Simon’s once more.

“Perhaps we should go back to the inn, it appears that your ride has-“

Before he could finish his sentence a macabre looking coach pulled up in front of them. The rider was mysteriously disfigured by a pair of large and dark spectacles and an oversized top hat. Normally Simon would have thought the outfit was ridiculous but something about the man had him feeling more disturbed than humorous.

“Thank you but it appears my ride has come,” Simon said.

The driver nodded and backed away, his eyes fearfully locked on the strangely dressed man.

Simon greeted the man affably and then proceeded to get inside.

The ride was a frightening one, the thunder making Simon jump and the lightning throwing strange shadows over the countryside. At one point he heard the sound of wolves and fretted that their howls were getting closer to them. The driver assured him that everything was fine, but he didn’t feel soothed by it. At some point he could have sworn he saw a blue flame off in the distance and remarked about it to the driver but the driver only shook it off and claimed it must have been lightning.

Finally they arrived at Castle Pitch. The driver took his luggage and disappeared after only vaguely directing Simon to where he should go. After clearing his throat several times and straightening his tie, he finally knocked on the door to the strange estate.

The noise the heavy knocker made was nearly deafening and set Simon’s heart racing. He expected to wait several minutes for an answer but was surprised when, almost immediately, the door was thrown open.

Inside stood a tall and elegantly dressed man, all in black. His skin was quite pale and his hair was as black as the rest of his clothing. His mouth was a deep red, which stood out in stark contrast with the rest of his appearance. But it was his eyes that made Simon stop in his tracks and forget all of his manners and business aims. His grey eyes were so startlingly beautiful that they madeSimon’s throat feel funny and his stomach feel jittery. The man was gorgeous, the most attractive person that Simon had ever met in all of his life.

“Please come in Mr. Snow, you’ll get drenched if you stay out there any longer,” he said, “My name is Count Grimm. But you may call me Basilton. Or Baz for short.”

Simon sucked in a sharp breath.

“Pleased to meet you,” he said quietly, “Sir.”

Then he crossed the threshold and entered the strange castle to await whatever it was that the hypnotic lord wanted of him.


	17. What Do You Want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 17: WLW 
> 
> Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking forward to this fic prompt. I hope you enjoy this eighth year fic about Fiona and Ebb.

**Ebb**

Ebb shook out her chin length blonde hair and chuckled as she watched Fiona smack Nico with her cauldron. It was a large and heavy thing and Ebb could almost feel how much it hurt her brother, his matching blue eyes wincing with every hit. He must have done something to piss Fiona off; Ebb had noticed he had the tendency to do so, and to do it often. And while it made her sad for Fiona, it was always fun to watch the consequences play out.

Fiona drifted over towards Ebb and sat down, glaring at Nico hard enough that he didn’t try to join them.

“Cigarette?” she asked Ebb, pulling one out for herself.

Ebb shook her head.

“No thanks,” she said.

Fiona snorted.

“You’re such a fucking straight-edge Ebb,” she kicked off her docs and sunk her sock covered feet into the grass, “When are you going to loosen up a little and take what you want?”

Ebb’s gaze flickered over Fiona’s face.

The problem was that Ebb wanted Fiona and she knew she could never have what she wanted. Fiona was her brother’s girlfriend, on and off sure but still, his girlfriend. And he was Ebb’s twin brother. You couldn’t just make a move on your twin brother’s girlfriend. Besides, Fiona would probably never think of Ebb that way. She was a famous Pitch and a dangerous one at that and Ebb was, well, she might be powerful but she wasn’t much else.

“I don’t know,” Ebb said, “Probably when I graduate.”

Fiona rolled her eyes.

“You don’t have to listen to your parents Ebb, not forever at least.”

Ebb snorted.

“You think it’s stupid for me to waste my power too,” she said.

Fiona eyed her. There was something in her expression that made Ebb’s heart flutter a little bit.

“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Fiona muttered, “Maybe I’m just jealous. My sister is more powerful than me and I’d do anything to be just like her.”

Ebb shrugged.

“She has a goal in mind for her power,” she said, “I don’t. I just want a cozy farm. Maybe I’ll…raise goats or something.”

Fiona raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.

“Goats eh?” she said.

Ebb nodded, blushing.

Something warm swept into Fiona’s grey eyes and she smiled one of her most dangerous smiles.

“I could get on with goats I think,” she said.

**Fiona**

She was done with Nico. This time she knew it for sure. He’d gone and cheated on her again and she wasn’t even mad this time, hadn’t been truly mad about his bullshit for a long time. She was just tired and altogether over him. It was better to be Nico’s friend than his girlfriend; she’d learned that the hard way.

It had been two weeks since the break up and she’d only just started to hang out with him again. He was fine with the situation, it seemed he too had come to his senses about their relationship. It was comfortable enough to hangout at lunch but Fiona suspected that was mostly due to Ebb. The girl who made Fiona’s heart flutter in ways it shouldn’t, given that she was her ex’s sister. Twin sister at that.

While Nico was setting plants on fire Ebb was helping Fiona study for her Political Science class. She was quizzing her on different vocabulary terms and concepts with Normal flash cards. She claimed they were more helpful than any sort of magic cheat would be though Fiona was a little skeptical about it.

“I don’t get it,” Fiona said.

Ebb looked up, confused.

“Don’t get what?” she asked.

Fiona frowned, not angry or passionate, but genuinely confused.

“Why do low magic people want to come to Watford? A half mage half fairy would probably struggle to pass most of their classes. Wouldn’t it just be a hassle? I just don’t see why this is such a political controversy.”

Ebb looked at her hand.

“Are you talking about that David fellow?”

Fiona nodded.

“He got brought up in class again today.”

Ebb pursed her lips and looked like she was really thinking about what she was going to say. When she got that faraway look in her bright blue eyes it always made Fiona shiver a bit. Nico could never make that expression, alternating between brooding and seducing. It was one of the reasons Fiona had developed a crush on Ebb.

“I don’t like that David much,” Ebb said, after a while, “I get this bad feeling from him, like he’s the power hungry type. But I agree with his platform.”

Fiona blinked in surprise.

“You do?” she asked, “I thought with you being so powerful and all that you’d be steadfast against it.”

Ebb sighed.

“But I don’t want all that power, do I? So if that’s the case, don’t you think it’s possible that someone with low magic might want to come here and get better?”

Fiona could see how it made sense.

“Yes but,” she paused, “The tax proposals would drain us dry.”

Ebb shook her head.

“No, they wouldn’t if everyone would just get on board,” she said, “Normal governments fund all sorts of education programs like that. It can work.”

Fiona felt a burst of warmth in her chest as she watched Ebb’s face twist with conviction. She loved the way that Ebb could get so passionate about things. Fiona was almost certain that she’d never cared about something as much as Ebb did.

“I guess you’re right,” Fiona said.

Ebb’s gaze swung back to hers.

“You…agree with me?”

Fiona took a snapping bite of her licorice.

“Yeah,” Fiona said, “You made a good case for it.”

Ebb frowned.

“But you’re a Pitch. Isn’t it like, mandatory or something that you want to keep magic for the powerful and elite?”

Fiona snorted.

“Have I ever done something simply because my family expected it of me?”

Ebb smiled, her eyes warm.

“No,” she said, “You do what you want.”

Fiona’s eyes flickered over Ebb’s smiling mouth.

“Damn straight I do,” she said.

**Ebb**

Nico sat across from her in the dining hall, glaring at her. Ebb tried to ignore his staring but knew she would cave soon. It was almost like she could read her brother’s thoughts, feel the same things he felt, which meant she knew he was anxious to shake something out of her.

“What Nico?” she grumbled.

“You’re keeping something from me,” he said, “And it’s not fair.”

She looked up at him and was relieved to see that he was pouting. His silvery blonde hair was ruffled and messy, just the way he liked it and his blue eyes were irritated but not furious. She could deal with this level of Nico.

“What do you mean it’s not fair?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes.

“When I fell for that girl you had a crush on in third year I told you right away.”

“So?”

“So,” he said, “You’ve had the hots for Fiona for like, months now, and you haven’t said a word to me.”

Ebb’s mouth fell open and all the blood in her body rushed to her cheeks.

 _“I do not,”_ she said.

He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yes you do,” he said, “And if you can’t even admit it to me then you’ll never have the guts to make a move.”

Ebb bit her lip.

“I’m sorry I just…I felt guilty. She’s your ex-girlfriend, more so than any of the other girls you’ve shagged. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

He shrugged.

“You’re a hell of a lot better for her than I am,” he said, “You’d be able to give her more than I ever could. All I’m good for is sex and cheap alcohol.”

Ebb winced.

“You don’t need to remind me.”

Nico huffed.

“Look Ebb,” he said, “Me and Fiona shouldn’t have ever tried to go out. We never really felt a burning passion for each other. We were just friends and we looked good together. Plus I pissed off her father.”

She glared.

“What’s your point?”

He took her hand.

“She was just a high school girlfriend. It doesn’t have to be weird.”

“She dated my brother,” she said, flatly.

“We mostly fought,” he said, “So just don’t make it awkward. And for once in your life just go after what you want.”

She shook her head, twisting her hair around her finger tightly.

“She might not even be into girls,” she said.

He looked away.

“I’m not going to out her Ebb. But I say you just take a chance.”

Ebb clenched her jaw.

“It’s not so easy…this isn’t just some girl I want to snog a few times by the pitch. I want…to be her girlfriend.”

He shrugged.

“And I’ll support you through and through. But you’re the only one who can make the first move.”

Ebb thought about that and squeezed her nails into her palms until it hurt a little.

“All right,” she said.

He grinned at her.

“All right,” he said.

**Fiona**

She was sitting on a hill, watching Ebb play with a stray cat. Ebb had asked her to hang out which wasn’t very strange but she’d been quiet the whole time, which was strange. Usually she liked to fill Fiona in on her classes or the girls she’d kissed that week.

Ebb had kissed a lot of girls.

And Fiona could see how. She was just as tall as her brother and her silvery blonde hair looked liked a crown around her face. Plus her blue eyes were as bright as the ocean.

Fiona couldn’t help but feel a stab of jealousy whenever Ebb brought the other girls up. Which was stupid because it had been her own fault. She probably could have gone after Ebb and had her for however long Ebb usually stuck around for. But she’d gone after Nico instead, thinking his wild tendencies better suited her own. She’d been stupid to think that in the end, it just made them clash more, being as similar as they were. The more she’d gotten to know Ebb the more she’d wished she had asked her out instead of Nico.

It wasn’t common knowledge that Fiona was bi, but she didn’t hide it either, Sometimes she’d hoped that Ebb would figure it out and make a move. But then she’d scold herself for being so awful. Ebb would never do something like that to her brother.

It had been frustrating though since Fiona and Nico had broken up. Somehow, being single made it worse to watch Ebb flirt with girls on campus. And they ate it up, Ebb was just so damn likable and so attractive. Fiona wondered how many other girls Ebb had told about her dream of raising goats. Maybe it was one of her best pick up lines.

As much as she wanted Ebb, she didn’t want to be a fling, so she’d held back from making any moves of her own.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” Fiona asked.

She wondered if Nico had sent Ebb to tell her something for him. He did that, sometimes, when he was feeling especially cowardly.

Ebb’s face got tight and anxious.

“I uh, well I have a confession to make.”

Fiona lay back in the grass and closed her eyes.

“All right,” she said, “Get on with it.”

She didn’t move or flinch when Ebb settled beside her, their arms touching. They did this sort of thing all of the time.

“I just wanted you to know that I have it bad for you,” Ebb said, practically whispering, “Like real bad.”

Fiona’s eyes snapped open and she turned in the grass to look at Ebb.

“Are you serious?”

Ebb opened her eyes and nodded, head bouncing in the grass.

“Yeah,” she said, “And if you feel the same way well, I wondered if you’d want to be my girlfriend?”

Fiona couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She’d always thought that if Ebb made a move on her it would be a fleeting one. She was the queen of hook ups. But now Ebb was asking for a full blown committed relationship. Excitement zipped through Fiona’s nerves and made her fidget.

“I um,” Fiona giggled, “Yeah. I do.”

Ebb’s eyes went wide.

“You do?” she asked, voice surprised.

Fiona leaned back down on the grass.

“Don’t act so surprised,” she said, “You’ve made out with half the girls in our class.”

Ebb nudged closer.

“But not with you,” she whispered.

Fiona closed the rest of the distance and kissed Ebb.

It was nothing like she’d expected it would be. There was none of the flirtation or teasing that usually accompanied Ebb’s conquests and not soft or anxious either, like she acted when it was just Fiona and Nico around. Ebb’s kisses were intense, deliberate, and demanding. Fiona couldn’t help but get pulled into the rhythm of it, twisting her hands into Ebb’s hair and pressing her back into the grass.

They broke apart, breath shaky.

“Nico is going to give us so much shit when he sees the grass stains,” Ebb said.

Fiona laughed.

“Believe it or not, I don’t really give a fuck.”

They laughed for a bit and then Natasha went back to kissing Ebb. Kissing her girlfriend she thought happily.

She was so happy Ebb had finally gone after what she wanted.


	18. Stuck in the Catacombs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 18: Stuck in a…
> 
> This is just an eighth year fic where Simon realizes his feelings for Baz a little sooner.

**Simon**

It was stupid for Simon to be following Baz into the catacombs but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He hadn’t been this obsessed with following Baz since fifth year but now that Baz had come back from who knew where Simon had felt like it necessary to follow him again. Baz had been walking with a limp lately and looked more miserable with the world than usual. Simon didn’t want to look into why he cared so much but found that he did and wanted to be there in case Baz passed out or got hurt. And he couldn’t very well offer to go with Baz because Baz would simply snarl at him for even bothering to ask. Which is how Simon ended up following Baz down that night into the bowels of the catacombs.

When he reached the bottom of the steps of the Children’s Tombs he stopped just short of slamming right into Baz’s chest. He was standing there and glaring at Simon with his arms crossed over his chest. Everything about his posture screamed _fuck off_ and his glare was even worse, murderous.

“What are you doing Snow?” he snapped.

Simon froze.

“You knew I was following you?”

Baz narrowed his eyes before snorting.

“You’re not that sly Snow. It’s been a long time since you used to follow me but apparently you haven’t improved much.”

Simon scowled.

Even if he had felt sympathetic and strangely drawn to Baz lately it didn’t change the fact that he could behave like a royal arse.

“Look,” Simon said, “I’m not trying to spy on you.”

Baz shrugged.

“It doesn’t really matter to me why you’re following me. I just want you to stop.”

“But-“

“Please Snow,” he said, cutting him off, “It’s all I’m asking for.”

His tone suggested that saying the word ‘please’ to Simon took a considerable amount of effort. But Simon could also hear the edge or exhaustion and desperation. Something in Simon’s chest squeezed painfully and he found that even though it worried him to leave Baz alone like this, he wanted to do as Baz wished.

“Okay,” Simon whispered.

He started to go up the stairs and reached for the gate that would lead back to the stairs to the chapel. When he wrenched the handle though, he found that it wouldn’t budge. He rattled the metal grille for a minute or so before sighing and giving up.

“Uh,” Simon called out, “We may have a problem.”

Baz clomped his way up to Simon and glared at him.

“What’s wrong?”

Simon jiggled the locked gate again.

“We’re uh, stuck in here.”

Baz glared.

“Move,” he said.

Simon moved aside and watched as Baz gripped the gate and pulled, the muscles in his back tensing and flexing in fascinating ways. For a moment Simon was so distracted by the sight that he forgot they were trapped in what was essentially a mausoleum.

 _“Fuck,”_ Baz said.

Simon bit his lip.

“I’m not sure why it’s locked. It’s never done that before,” he said.

Baz turned on him, obviously furious.

“No shit Snow,” he said, “Which means we have no idea how long we’ll be trapped in here.”

Simon rolled his eyes and made his way back to the tombs, sitting on the dusty floor. Baz followed him reluctantly and settled across from him as far as he possibly could.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Simon said, “Someone will come looking for us eventually.”

Baz raised an eyebrow.

“And in the meantime? What are we supposed to do about food? Or water?”

Simon frowned.

“Do you really think it’ll be that long?”

Baz shrugged.

“I have no idea,” he said, “But I happen to have more experience than I would like to when it comes to being trapped for long periods of time.”

Simon studied Baz.

“Is that why you were gone for so long? You were…trapped somewhere?”

Baz shuddered lightly.

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped.

Simon crawled over to sit next to Baz, ignoring his slight flinch as he did so.

“I know,” he said, “But I wish you would let it be my business.”

Baz glanced at him.

“Why?”

Simon shrugged, his heart racing, and crossed his legs.

“We’re stuck down here, we may as well find something to talk about.”

Baz studied his face for a moment before sighing, his posture echoing defeat.

“Fine,” Baz said, “I’ll tell you. But only because I know you won’t leave it alone. I was…kidnapped.”

Simon felt like he’d been slapped or like someone had thrown ice water on him. The idea of Baz being kidnapped had occurred to him before but he’d always rejected the possibility as strongly as he’d rejected the idea of Baz being dead; both options were too horrible to consider. Anger bubbled up in him as he realized that someone had kept Baz for as long as they had.

“Who was it?” Simon growled.

Baz looked confused.

“Why do you care?”

Simon blinked and looked away.

“Why does it matter?”

Baz pursed his lips and seemingly let it go.

“I’m not sure who was behind it,” he said, “But it was numpties.”

Simon cocked his head to the side.

“Uh…numpties?” he asked.

Baz rolled his eyes.

“Yeah I know,” he said, “Anyways it was pretty terrible. But I’m all right now.”

Simon looked at him.

“You don’t really seem all right,” he said, “I mean, you’ve been limping everywhere and besides that you’ve looked really down lately.”

Baz laughed humorously and leaned back against the stone of the tomb behind him.

“You don’t want to know what’s really going on with me Snow,” he said, “Trust me.”

Simon growled.

“You don’t know anything Baz.”

Baz didn’t open his eyes. He just stayed like that, almost like he’d fallen asleep against the cold stone, which Simon guessed was virtually impossible to do. The only sign that he’d heard Simon was the twitch of his mouth.

“So tell me then,” Baz said.

Simon sighed, deflated.

“You wouldn’t want to know what was going on in my head either,” he said, looking at his fingers.

“Then it looks like this is the end of our conversation,” Baz said.

Simon shook his head. He knew it would be a disaster to tell Baz the truth. That he was pretty sure he was in love with him and that he had no idea what to do about it. And yet, trapped as they were in a room of death, Simon wanted to tell him. He felt like he was choking on the words, fighting them from coming up.

“What you asked me earlier,” Simon said, “About why I care…I care because it’s been miserable this year without you.”

Baz opened his eyes, surprise on his face.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Simon felt like something was crashing inside of him, like his refusal to acknowledge his feelings was crumbling into nothingness and everything he felt for Baz was rushing through.

“I mean that it was torture not knowing where you were and whether or not you were okay. I looked for you everywhere and I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t even eat. Nothing about Watford was the same without you.”

Baz’s eyes had hooded slightly, reluctant warmth in his expression.

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me Snow,” he said.

Simon sat up and reached for Baz, ignoring the way he stilled as his hand got closer. He reached over and tucked one of the locks of his shiny black hair behind his ear.

“I’m trying to tell you that I’m in love with you,” he said, “And that I’d really prefer if you called me Simon.”

Baz’s eyes dropped to Simon’s mouth and then he leaned forward.

When he kissed Simon, it felt as if something had finally been set right. Like all the strange loneliness that Simon had carried over the years, that had been worse while Baz was gone, had been eradicated in one single act. Baz’s lips were rewriting everything in Simon’s mind and he kissed him back to share the story with him.

Baz murmured his name while they kissed and rain his fingers through Simon’s hair. It didn’t even matter that there were skulls all around them and dirt on their hands. Simon curled his own fingers in the hair at the base of Baz’s neck and pulled him closer, wanting to drink every bit of him in.

They broke apart when they heard the sound of the gate creaking open.

Simon looked over, expecting to see a staff member or maybe even Penny and was confused when he saw that the gateway was empty.

“That’s weird,” Simon murmured.

“Yeah,” Baz agreed, “It’s like…something was waiting for that to happen. And once it did, it decided to let us go.”

Simon shuddered a little at the thought. Living as long as he had in the World of Mages, he had to admit that it was a possibility. The thought that someone or something had wanted them to admit their feelings to one another was both comforting and overwhelming.

“Well,” Simon said, “It looks like we’re not trapped anymore.”

Baz looked at Simon’s mouth.

“Can we maybe continue this in our room instead of in a tomb?”

Simon laughed and kissed him quickly.

“Yeah,” he said, “I think I’m okay with that.”


	19. Sleepy Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 19: Late Nights/Early Mornings
> 
> This is just a short little fic that takes place in the early morning after Simon kisses Baz in his room.

**Baz**

I don’t think I can keep my eyes open anymore.

There’s a dull light shining through the cracks in my curtains and the fire has long since gone out. I’m on the couch with Snow and my arms are wrapped weakly around his neck. He’s kissing me and I’m kissing him back. And it feels so good. It’s felt so good all night. But now it’s morning and I don’t think I can stay awake any longer.

“Snow,” I whisper.

He nudges my face with his nose.

“Call me Simon,” he mumbles, sleepily.

“Simon I can’t stay awake any longer,” I say.

He kisses me softly again.

“Okay,” he says, “Let’s get some sleep.”

I begin to move away, thinking he means for me to go to my bed, but his arms tighten around me.

“No,” he says, “Stay.”

I think about how small the couch is and how much more comfortable I would probably be sprawled in my own bed. But Snow’s arms are so warm and I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a kid, so I decide I won’t mind if I wake up with a stiff neck.

“Goodnight,” I say.

Simon presses a kiss to my temple.

“Night Baz.”

My lips are sore and my hand still hurts from Snow’s cross but I’ve never slept better before in my life.


	20. Field Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 20: On a trip and/or Adventure 
> 
> This is a short first year fic where Simon and Baz are partnered as buddies on a class field trip.

**Simon**

Miss Possibelf was trying to get everyone’s attention but none of the students could be bothered to look at her. Everyone was scrambling to look around at all of the items on display in the room. Even Simon couldn’t help but let his eyes wander around the room.

“Quiet please,” Miss Possibelf called out.

Simon felt a nudge beside him and found that Baz was glaring at him, shoulder close to his own. Normally Simon would have snapped at Baz for something like that but he couldn’t really blame him this time. On their field trip to the Magical History Museum they were assigned buddies, which just meant that you had to stick around your roommate the whole time. It wasn’t Baz’s fault that he had to be so close to him and Simon knew he was making it more difficult by not following directions.

“You may explore on your own,” Miss Possibelf said, “But you are not allowed to touch anything and you must take your buddy with you.”

As much as the idea of spending the whole trip with Baz upset Simon he was still pretty excited just to be at the museum. He’d been grateful enough to find out that he belonged at Watford and now he was getting to look at famous magical artifacts. He wasn’t much of a history buff but he felt a surge of excitement seeing all of the different magical objects in cases.

“What do you want to do first?” Baz asked, quietly.

Simon glanced at him, surprised at the lack of hostility in his voice.

“I don’t know,” he said, “I’ve never been. But you’ve been here before, yeah?”

Baz narrowed his eyes at Simon like he was measuring whether or not he’d said something offensive. But he apparently realized Simon was being genuine because slowly his face went neutral and a little shy.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Then you should lead the way,” Simon said, grinning despite himself, “You can be my tour guide.”

Baz’s grey eyes widened a fraction and Simon could have sworn he saw a flush of pink color his cheeks.

“Okay,” Baz said.

**Baz**

Simon Snow wasn’t so bad when you got to know him.

Baz had been showing him around the museum for an hour or so and already he’d found himself laughing at Snow’s stupid jokes. He liked the way he paid attention to Baz’s descriptions of items enough to make clever jokes about them. It made Baz feel appreciated and like they were sharing some secret world. There were magicians milling all throughout the building but these moments, these moments were _theirs._

He found himself paying attention to details he’d always avoided looking too much at, like the flash of Snow’s curls in patches of sunlight and the moles that dotted his skin. Even Snow’s boring blue eyes were affecting him and he found himself comparing Snow ridiculously to the models in the paintings. Except that Snow was real and vibrant in a way that the mages in the paintings would never be.

“We should hang out like this more often,” Snow said, as they gathered back with the rest of the group some time later.

“Your friends wouldn’t like that,” Baz said, feeling insecure.

Snow rolled his eyes.

“I’m the one that’s been complaining about you, not them. They’ll get used to you.”

Baz glared at him before shaking his head.

“The Mage would hate it,” he said.

Snow looked away and shrugged stiffly.

“So?” he said, “He’s not my dad. I can be friends with whoever I want.”

Baz blinked and bit his lip.

“Do you mean it?”

Simon stopped Baz, grabbing his hand.

“Here,” Snow said, “We’ll pinky promise on it.”

Baz was distracted by Snow’s hand.

“Huh?”

Snow frowned.

“I guess it’s a Normal thing,” he said, “Well, a pinky promise is like…a super promise, you can’t break it.”

“What happens if you do?” Baz asked.

Snow paused while he thought about that.

“I don’t know,” he said truthfully, “I’ve never broken one to find out.”

Baz looked at his feet.

“Then I guess that means I can trust that you won’t break this one.”

Snow nodded and hooked his pinky finger around Baz’s.

“I promise that we’ll always be friends and that I’ll never leave you behind,” Simon said.

Baz couldn’t look away from him.

Simon shook his finger lightly.

“Now you say it,” he said.

Baz shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Oh uh,” he said, “Um, I promise that we’ll always be friends and that I’ll never leave you behind.”

Snow broke out into a huge grin.

“See? Now it’s a official. We’ll never be apart.”

Baz felt a swell of warmth surge in his heart.

“C’mon boys!” Miss Possibelf shouted at them, “The field trip is over!”

As they gathered together and headed for the bus, Baz couldn’t help but think about how excited he was to keep his promise to Simon Snow for the rest of his life.


	21. Perchance to Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 21: Royalty AU
> 
> This is sort of a Hamlet AU. I may turn this into a chaptered fic eventually.

**Simon**

King Snow sat, on the throne, looking bored as he watched the crowd of mourners leave. Simon knew his father had not admired his mother the way he had but it was still painful to watch him be so uncaring. His mother, King Snow’s wife, lay in a casket and his father seemed like he’d rather be doing anything else than sit at her funeral services. It vexed Simon to have to sit beside him and pretend that he wasn’t choking on hostility for the man. But Lady Pitch was in attendance with her son so Simon could not behave as he wished.

Her son Basilton was intriguing, enough so to distract Simon in his grief. His warm brown skin and dark raven hair were set against beautiful grey eyes. They’d flirted enough at formal dinners and in the gardens that Simon yearned to make a move. He wished his father weren’t considering a marriage to the man’s mother; otherwise he would have sought to make an arrangement.

“Simon,” his father chided, “Why do you sit looking so forlorn and clad in black? It is time you move on.”

Simon glared at him and stood, hands clenched into fists.

“You would have me move on before my mother’s body is laid to rest? When did you move on father? Was it before or after her body had gone cold?”

His father’s face remained frustratingly neutral.

“I grieve for your mother in my own way,” he said, “But as king I must put the country’s needs over my own.”

Simon snorted.

“Ah yes,” he said, “You really do need to secure your throne, which is why you’ve found yourself another wife. Best not to let me rule.”

His father put his hand on Simon’s forearm.

“Son,” he said, “I don’t understand why you mean to wound me so. You know that when I die it will be an honor for the throne to pass to you.”

“Best hope that doesn’t come soon,” Simon said.

The king sat up straighter.

“Was that a threat?” he asked.

Simon cocked his head to the side and gave him a wild smile.

“Why of course not father,” he said, “I would never dream of killing my family. How could you ever think that?”

Red colored his father’s cheeks and his lip twitched. Simon felt his stomach dip as his father’s reaction confirmed what he’d already suspected. His mother had been the ruling monarch when his father had proposed which meant that his position as king was tentative and could have just as easily gone to her brother. But upon her death, her brother had gone missing and the king had announced another marriage. Simon was almost certain his father had killed them both.

“I think you’re are ill,” he said, “Or at least that your mind is. You need to go rest until you’ve come back to your senses.”

Simon raised his eyebrows.

“Do you think so? I best be careful then, I wouldn’t want to catch what mom got. Wouldn’t it be such a tragedy for mother and son to die only days apart from the same illness?”

His father narrowed his eyes.

“Yes,” he said, “You should be careful.”

Simon left the throne room without another word.

His anger burned through him as he stalked down the castle corridors and he found that he wanted to see Basilton. Basil would help him forget, would bring warmth back to his heart and maybe even make him smile once more. He’d seen him at the services today, and he wished Basil would have stayed in the thrown room. But it would have been improper of him to do so.

Somehow he ended up in front of Basil’s chambers, knocking too impatiently.

Basil answered, eyes wide with surprise, and then smiled when he saw that it was Simon who had called on him.

“May I come in?’ Simon asked.

Basil stepped aside.

“Of course, my prince.”

Simon stepped inside.

“I am not your prince,” Simon said.

Basil shut the door behind them.

“Well,” he said, “Not yet but once my mother marries your father-“

“No,” Simon interrupted, “I meant…please do not address me as your prince.”

Basil studied his face, expression changing. There was desire in his eyes; Simon could see it in his heavy lidded glance. But there was something else there too, something softer. It made Simon want to court Basil in the gardens but that couldn’t be done and all because of his murderous father.

“Then what should I call you?” Basil asked.

“Call me Simon,” he said, knowing how bold he was being, “Please.”

Basil came up to him and pressed his hands onto Simon’s chest.

“As you wish,” he said, “Simon.”

Simon pushed forward a bit and rested his forehead against Basil’s nose.

“Are you all right Simon?” Basil asked, “You seem disturbed.”

“I am disturbed. More so than you deserve.”

Basil nudged his nose into Simon’s forehead.

“As am I,” he said, “You’ll come to see that. But as long as we are both disturbed perhaps we can find comfort in each other.”

Simon nodded.

Basil moved his face forward just enough so that their lips barely touched. Then Simon gave up on all of his excuses and worries, letting himself forget his mother and his father for just a few seconds of bliss.

Basil’s mouth was warm and intent, drawing all of the warmth out of Simon and onto his cheeks and lips. He felt like he was burning with need and wished they could satisfy it forever, unhurried. But there were dark things lurking beyond Basil’s chambers and Simon feared they would eventually find them.


	22. Opposite Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 22: Opposite Day
> 
> This is an eighth year fic about it actually being opposite day :)

**Simon**

“You know,” Baz said, “It’s opposite day.”

Simon frowned at him.

Their truce had gone into effect a week ago and they were deep into sniffing around campus for clues. It hardly seemed like the appropriate time for Baz to be making stupid jokes.

“So?” Simon asked.

Baz shrugged.

“Just thought I’d mention it,” he said.

Simon snorted.

“Okay.”

**Penny**

“Simon,” Penny said, “I need to talk to you.”

Simon was in the middle of stuffing a scone into his mouth when she spoke and he glanced at her over the mess.

“Uh huh,” he said, word muffled by food.

“This whole thing with Baz,” she said, “Are you sure this is just about you wanting to do the right thing?”

Simon gave her a strange look.

Penny couldn’t really blame him. She was about to make a suggestion to Simon that she was pretty sure he would be either totally offended by or totally thrown off by, or maybe even a combination of both. But she’d noticed the way Baz looked at Simon while they read the stolen library books together and she noticed the way Simon seemed to move wherever Baz moved. As soon as the idea had popped into her head, she hadn’t been able to deny how much sense it made.

“Why else would I do it?” Simon said finally, having swallowed his scone.

She shrugged.

“Oh I don’t know,” she said, “Maybe you like him or something.”

He frowned.

“I mean we have been getting along better lately but I don’t know if he’d really be interested in being friends-“

“No Simon,” Penny interrupted, “I’m asking if you _like_ him.”

His move opened and shut and his cheeks went bright red. He didn’t seem to be capable of speech for a minute or so. Eventually he ran a nervous hand through his hair and laughed, too high pitched.

“I don’t,” Simon said, “I-I can’t…What are you even saying? That I could like Baz. That doesn’t even make sense…”

She raised her eyebrow.

“Yeah you totally don’t seem interested,” she said.

He sat back in his seat and looked as if his entire world had been turned upside down. His expression was one of both disbelief and confusion. But she could see in his eyes that she’d been right. He did like Baz.

He scowled at her.

“Thanks for that,” he said flatly.

“I did you a favor!” she complained.

He guffawed her, eyes wide.

“Yes thank you Penny,” he said, “I’m so happy I discovered the deeply buried feelings I’ve been carrying for the roommate who absolutely hates me.”

She bit her lip guiltily.

Penny was pretty sure Baz felt the same way about Simon but she didn’t want to tattle on Baz and she definitely didn’t want to give Simon false hope if she’d been wrong. She reached over and patted his arm.

“It’s okay,” she said, “Everything will be fine.”

He rolled his eyes.

“You’re just saying that because it’s opposite day,” Simon grumbled.

She frowned, confused.

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

**Simon**

Baz was sitting on his bed listening to music when Simon got back to the room. He looked a little sleepy, like he’d been listening for a while now. The hem of his shirt had lifted slightly and revealed a small stripe of skin that Simon couldn’t ignore. _Damn Penny_ he thought _she’s opened up the floodgates._

Baz sat up.

“Hey Snow,” he said.

Simon smiled blandly and nodded at him, not meeting his eyes.

“Is Bunce coming up for a meeting?”

Simon threw his bag down harder than necessary.

“In a few hours yeah,” he said.

“Okay good,” Baz said, “We really need to get on that.”

Simon nodded.

Then he began to gather his stuff for a shower, hoping he wouldn’t have to talk to Baz until Penny got here. Now that he’d acknowledged his feelings he felt like they were trying to pour out of him against his will.

“And Snow?”

He didn’t turned around.

“Yeah?”

“I hate you,” he said.

Simon flinched but otherwise didn’t react. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much. Just a day ago he probably would have responded with a _not as much as I hate you._ But now that he knew he’d only been covering up his true feelings, Baz’s words hurt.

“I know,” Simon said dully.

“No,” Baz said, getting up from his bed, “I don’t think you do. I hate you.”

Simon turned to face him, angry now.

“Yeah!” Simon said, _“I know.”_

Baz stepped closer to Simon, eyes intense.

“I said I hate you,” he said, quietly, “Happy opposite day.”

Simon opened his mouth to start calling Baz a ridiculous amount of horrible names when he realized what Baz was getting at. It was opposite day, which meant that Baz meant the opposite of what he was saying. Did that mean that he…loved Simon? That had to be what he was saying. Simon felt his heart stutter and his fingers tingle nervously. His tongue felt funny and he was pretty sure that his knees had just up and left his body.

“You…you love me?” he asked.

Baz looked down.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

Simon growled.

“No it isn’t,” he said, “You spoke in code you prick. I would never tell you I liked you like that.”

Baz peeked up, eyes hopeful.

“So do you like me?” he asked.

“No,” Simon said.

Baz’s expression fell.

 _“Jesus Christ Baz,”_ Simon said, “You just said it was opposite day. Of course I like you!”

Baz smiled and then Simon rolled his eyes before kissing him. It wasn’t a long kiss but it still made Simon’s head swim a little bit and his face heat up.

“I knew that would work,” Baz said.

Simon laughed.

“I did not work,” he said, kissing him again lightly, “You’re just lucky I like you so much.”

Baz nudged his nose.

“Yeah,” he said, “I am.”


	23. Baking Competition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 23: Cooking/Baking
> 
> A short little fic where Simon and Baz face off in a baking competition. Please forgive me for any mistakes I may have made in this. I have not watched the Great British Bake Off before but I tried my best to get the details right.

**Simon**

It was one of the most prestigious baking competitions on T.V. and Simon had been picked as one of the contestants. He still couldn’t believe that he’d been selected as one of the contestants on The Great British Bake Off. During his auditions he’d been an awkward mess and had been sure he wouldn’t make it but somehow he’d managed to impress them.

They were filming the first episode and Simon was cooking near Penelope Bunce and Basilton Pitch. He liked Penny, she was very sweet and very smart, and her baking skills were undeniable. Although he wanted to win, Simon would feel happy for Penny if she won Star Baker for the week.

Baz Pitch, on the other hand, was an absolute ass. He kept calling out to Simon and asking if he was doing okay or not. During the signature challenge he’d snorted when he saw that Simon had been making cherry scones. Simon was currently working his ass off not only to win but also to make sure that Baz didn’t win.

“Your cheeks are all flushed Snow,” Baz said, “Ought to look beautiful on camera.”

Simon growled and threw his plate down on the counter, needing to start decorating and setting his cake.

“You worry about your own mess,” Simon grumbled.

Penny shook her head, looking perfectly at ease with her tart as she dressed her plate. Simon knew she was one of the most difficult competitors that he was up against but he couldn’t help but like her.

“Why don’t you both just stay focused on your desserts and leave each other alone,” Penny said.

Simon nodded and went back to what he was doing. She was right after all, he only had time to focus on himself right now. He was doing a chocolate raspberry mousse cake and he needed to make sure all the berries and chocolate shavings were place just right.

Baz was doing a princess cake and Simon hated that it looked absolutely perfect. Everything about Baz looked absolutely perfect from his black silky hair to his airbrush perfect warm, tan skin to his beautiful grey eyes. Simon was almost certain that he’d become a fan favorite right away. And he could definitely bake. As much as Simon disliked admitting it, Baz was incredibly talented.

Once their time was up they waited for the judges reactions. Simon felt sweaty the whole time and didn’t even remember anything the judges said. All he could think about were the cameras and how sad he would be if he was the first person to go home.

Finally the judges decided on a winner.

It ended up being Penelope Bunce, which made Simon smile and sigh in relief. At least it hadn’t been Baz who’d won.

In the end, it was Gareth who ended up getting eliminated, which Simon didn’t really mind since he had the strange tendency to jut out his pelvis whenever he thought he’d done something good. He said it was his lucky move, that it made his food magic or something.

“This isn’t over,” Baz said when he passed by Simon.

Simon glared at his retreating back.

“Not even close,” he said.


	24. My Universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 24: One Word Prompt ~ Stars
> 
> I use some of Rainbow Rowell’s actual lines in this so I want to say that I fully recognize her ownership and copyright over Carry On and am only borrowing them. This is a fic/poem during the star scene after the dragon fight.

**Baz**

**“Twinkle, twinkle little star!”**

_There are stars in the room and in his eyes._

**“Up above the world so high!”**

_High on his eyes and his moles  
Constellations that I can’t let go _  
_Even if I wanted to_  
Which I don’t 

“Merlin and Morgana, are we in space?”

_There’s a galaxy right in between his lips_   
_Vast and never-ending just like his magic_   
_I want to explore_   
_To go places I’ve never gone before_

“I don’t know.”

“Is that a spell?”

“I don’t know.”

_I don’t know how much more I can take_   
_What do you do when your entire universe hates you?_

“Are you holding back at all?”

“Not consciously. Is it too much?”

_It will never be enough_   
_No amount of stars or planets would ever compare_   
_To him_

“No. It’s like you completed the circuit. I feel kind of drunk though.”

_How lucky I am to be drunk_   
_On the flares of light in Snow’s hair_   
_Its golden burnish like rays of sunlight._

“Drunk on power?”

“Shit Snow. Stop talking. This is embarrassing.”

“Do you want me to pull back?”

“No. I want to look at the stars.”

_I feel asteroids collide in my chest_   
_And light years of pain drift away_   
_All because I am here with Snow_

“I’m pulling back.”

_I don’t want it to end_   
_Even if nothing really happened at all_   
_I am content to just watch his universe_   
_Even if his universe doesn’t have time for me._

“All right?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Fine.”

_Simon Snow has the soul of the sun_   
_But I am helpless_   
_Orbiting around a star too bright for me_   
_Doomed to eventually get sucked in_   
_And burn_


	25. Crooked Tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 25: Christmas Decorating
> 
> This is a short little nothing that basically gave me the excuse to write the last line lol. Hope you enjoy!

**Simon**

The tree didn’t look right.

Simon was standing far away from it and squinting, but no matter how he looked at it, the tree remained crooked. Penny was away for the holidays visiting Micah and Agatha, so Simon had been put in charge of decorating their flat. But he wasn’t very good at it.

Baz walked in carrying a stack of pizzas.

“I brought your favorite,” Baz said, “An enormous amount of pepperoni for you and a veggie delight for me.”

Simon smiled at him and helped him put them down before returning to the tree.

“It doesn’t look how it’s supposed to look, does it?”

Simon asked.

Baz stood beside him and studied it.

“I mean no,” Baz said, “But at my house we hire professional decorators so I’m not sure I have realistic expectations.”

Simon huffed.

“I tried to get the star on top,” he said, “But I ended up almost falling out the window.”

“I would have liked to have seen that,” Baz said.

Simon rolled his eyes.

“Does the rest of the house look okay?” Simon asked.

Baz looked around.

“Well,” he said, “Nothing is on fire and it looks like you managed to get most of the basics taken care of. I’d say you did pretty good.”

Simon grinned.

“Okay,” he said, “Then I’ll just leave the tree as is.”

Baz clapped his hands together.

“Great,” he said, “Then we can eat now right?”

Simon shook his head.

“We have to put lights up out front,” he said, “Why don’t you come help me?”

Baz sighed and pouted slightly.

“You’re going to electrocute me aren’t you?” he grumbled as he followed Simon out the door.


	26. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 26: One Word Prompt ~Family
> 
> It’s always interested me that Simon thinks his wand doesn't work well for him because it wasn’t passed down to him through family (even though it was). I wanted to write a small fic dealing with that.

**Baz**

He watched Simon’s shoulders curl in on themselves. It was more painful somehow than the day he’d watched Simon fall apart after the Mage had died. This time there was more than just guilt, there was grief too, and deeply personal grief. It was as if the Mage had been remade with the new information and now Simon was watching him die all over again, only now with the information of all he’d truly lost.

Simon clutched his wand.

“This was really my father’s wand then?” he asked, quietly.

Penny nodded.

“As soon as Agatha showed me that picture my mom gave her I just…knew,” Penny said, “And then my mom found the Mage’s personal journal and well he really was your father Simon. And Lucy Salisbury was your mother.”

“Why didn’t it ever work for me?” Simon whispered.

Baz put his hand on Simon’s back.

“You were able to cast spells with it,” he murmured, “That means it worked. You probably just had too much power to use it properly.”

Tears dripped down Simon’s nose.

“My parents are dead,” he said.

Penny grabbed his clenched hands.

“Your mother died from complications during childbirth Simon. There was nothing you could do.”

Simon’s jaw hardened.

“I killed my own father,” he said.

Baz’s teeth snapped together.

“You did _not_ kill him,” Baz said, “You said to stop hurting you, which means he never would have stopped. Simon, he might have killed you himself if he thought it meant harnessing that power.”

“Besides,” Penny said, _“I’m_ the one who said the spell. Let me be the one to carry the burden.”

Simon leaned back into Baz’s chest, eyelashes fluttering shut.

“I know he did horrible things,” he said, “I know he hurt you so much Baz. And I’ll always hate him for that. But I wish…”

“I know,” Baz said, gathering Simon in his arms, “And it’s okay. No matter what, he was still your father.”

Penny wrapped Simon’s hand around his wand and rubbed his shoulder.

“And you’ll always have a piece of him, the piece of him that gave you what mattered most, Watford.”

Simon smiled, eyes still red with tears.

“You guys are what matter most to me,” he said.

Baz kissed the top of his head and Penny squeezed his arm.

“You may have lost a lot of family Simon,” Baz said, “But that doesn’t mean you don’t have one.”

He nodded, and gathered them both closer to him.

“Thank you,” Simon said, “For being my family.”


	27. Ice Skating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 27: Snowy Day
> 
> My mother (who was an ice skater) took my dad out ice skating when they were dating on a frozen pond. I used that as inspiration for this 8th year fic.

**Baz**

Snow’s cheeks were flushed but not with anger for once.

Snow was walking in the snow slowly as if he were distracted by something. He’d asked Baz to come with him but he had no idea why. They were the only two on campus during the holidays and it was Christmas Eve. He’d agreed to go because he had nothing better to do and well, it was Snow. But he wasn’t sure where this little errand was headed.

“Are we visiting Ebb?” Baz asked.

Snow shook his head.

“She’s already home for the holidays,” Snow said.

Baz nodded.

They’d started to get along better during their quiet meals together and walks through the empty halls. Spending winter break with Snow was like a dream for Baz but he was surprised to see that Snow seemed to be enjoying himself too. Over the last few days he’d even laughed at some of Baz’s jokes. But he wasn’t sure why he was suddenly being so quiet.

“Then where are we going?” Baz asked.

Snow smiled briefly.

“You’ll see.”

Baz grumbled something unpleasant but otherwise followed Snow’s instructions.

Eventually they’d walked so far that Baz wasn’t even sure they were still on campus. There were trees everywhere but he was pretty sure they weren’t in the wavering wood. Everything looked like something out of a wintry painting. In the distance he noticed that the snow dipped into a sort of circle.

“You mentioned you’d never ice skated before,” Snow said, shyly.

That’s when Baz realized he was looking at a frozen pond. It was gorgeous; surrounded by large trees and falling snow. The sun glinted prettily off the murky ice of the pond and made Baz squint. Nobody had ever brought Baz somewhere so beautiful.

“Won’t it be difficult to skate?” he asked, in awe.

Snow shrugged.

“Yes,” he said, “But if you can skate this then you can skate anywhere.”

Baz felt like he was floating on happiness.

“Thank you,” he said.

Snow grinned.

“C’mon,” he said, “I’ll show you how.”

He raised a hand out to Baz. Baz looked at his hand and smiled.

“All right,” he said.

He grabbed Snow’s hand and followed him to the pond.

**Simon**

Baz learning to skate on uneven frozen pond water was both hilarious and adorable.

Simon had found some skates lying around in the physical education equipment room a few days prior and had snagged them with this errand in mind. Lately he’d been having such a good time hanging out with Baz. He’d thought they were becoming friends and then one night they’d stayed up for hours talking and Simon realized what he felt for Baz was more than just friendly.

Baz was finally getting the hang of it. His legs were shaking and his face was tense with concentration but he wasn’t falling flat on his arse anymore.

“You’re doing great!” Simon called out.

Baz looked up at him and gave him a wide smile.

Simon watched as the effort made his stance shift in just the wrong way. His knees buckled and he went down hard, hands splayed on the ice. Simon skated over to him quickly and helped him up to his knees.

“I’m sorry,” Simon said, worried that Baz might have hurt his wrists, “I didn’t mean to make you fall.”

“Snow,” Baz said.

Simon started wiping slush off of Baz’s jacket.

“I’m not a very good teacher,” he grumbled.

“Simon,” Baz said.

Simon looked up and found that Baz was looking at him differently. His eyes were hooded slightly and he was looking at his mouth. Simon felt blood rush to his cheeks and stopped talking.

“Nobody has ever done something like this for me before,” he said.

“I just wanted to do something special,” Simon said.

The falling snow had caught in Baz’s black eyelashes, making the grey of his eyes brighter.

“Why?” he whispered.

“Because,” Simon whispered, bringing a hand up to Baz’s face to run his thumb over his lip, “You’re special to me.”

Baz leaned forward and kissed Simon, taking his face gently into his hands.

Simon sighed happily and kissed him back, hands drifting to Baz’s scarf and pulling him closer. He deepened the kiss, enjoying the cool sweetness of Baz’s mouth. When they broke apart the snow was coming down heavier.

“Maybe we should go inside,” Simon said, “Continue this in the room.”

Baz smiled.

“Sure,” he said, “Can we come back tomorrow and keep skating?”

Simon smiled.

“Of course.”

Then they walked back hand in hand back to their room in the swirling snow.


	28. Dear Santa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 28: Letters to Santa/Christmas List
> 
> I have a letter I wrote to Santa stored somewhere that I can’t even read any longer lol, but that inspired this fic.

**Simon**

“Oh my goodness,” Simon said, pulling a faded and crinkling paper out of the box.

Baz and Simon were moving into a new flat together, one of their first activities as fiancés. The place was filled with boxes from Simon’s flat with Penny and Baz’s family home. The box Simon had pulled the paper from was labeled “Baz’s School Stuff” and had practically every assignment Baz had ever taken home to his father and stepmother. But the paper Simon had grabbed was different.

“What is it?” Baz asked, from across the room.

Simon scanned the contents and started cracking up.

“Dear Santa,” he read out, still laughing, “This year for Christmas the only thing I want from you is to get rid of my annoying roommate-“

“Give me that!” Baz said, running to him.

Simon flapped his wings out and flew up towards the ceiling so that the letter was out of Baz’s reach.

“He’s the absolute worst,” Simon continued, “And I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s driving me batty. His name is Simon Snow (a ridiculous name I know). He has the most unruly curls, a lot of moles, and stupid blue eyes. Every time I make fun of him his cheeks go all pink and he growls at me, like a dog! Because of the roommate’s anathema I can’t change my room. But I was hoping that maybe you could kidnap him or something. I’m sure Snow would enjoy the North Pole and living with you. Well, thank you in advance. Sincerely, Baz.”

Baz was glaring at him from under his feet.

“Simon I am going to kill you.”

He landed back on the floor right in front of Baz and grinned.

“When did you even write this?” Simon asked.

Baz huffed.

“I was eleven,” he said, “I know it was sort of late but my parents didn’t tell me about Santa until the next year.”

“This is the cutest thing ever,” Simon said, “And I would have loved the North Pole. How generous of you not to ask him to kill me.”

Baz’s face flushed the lightest shade of pink.

“I didn’t know how to deal with my crush on you,” he grumbled, “And besides, I never really wanted you dead.”

Simon grabbed his face between his hands.

“I love you and I want this framed,” Simon said.

Baz rolled his eyes and kissed him.

“I love you too,” he said, “But we are _not_ getting that framed.”


	29. Christmas Presents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 29: Christmas Presents
> 
> I’ve always hoped that Agatha would reconnect with the group. I hope you all enjoy!

**Agatha**

Her first Christmas back home had been strange. She was no longer the daughter that her parents expected and the holidays had been awkward feeling out their new relationship. Agatha had used her wand a few times and for once didn’t feel so angry about it, which she supposed was probably because she knew that this time it was her choice and she could stop using it when she wanted to.

Now she was sitting in Simon and Penny’s flat, opening presents before they ate Christmas dinner. Simon and Baz being a couple had somehow been both surprising and predictable all at once. But Agatha was happy for both of them; they definitely seemed to be happy together. She wondered how long it would take for her to receive a wedding invitation.

She was nervous for Simon to open up her present. Over the last few months Simon had told Agatha he’d found out his father had been the Mage, which eventually led to the discovery of his mother having been Lucy Salisbury. Simon had tried to reach out to his biological grandmother on Lucy’s side, but she’d wanted nothing to do with him. She considered both him and David to be a curse on her family. It had been a very difficult thing for Simon and Agatha hoped that her gift might help him.

Simon smiled as she handed it to him.

The wrapping paper had little puppies in Santa hats, which Agatha knew Simon would enjoy.

“Oh no,” Baz said, “He’s trying to save the wrapping.”

Simon leaned back into Baz’s chest and kissed his jaw.

“I like the puppies,” he said.

Penny laughed and Agatha joined in, it was nice for them to hang out like this. It was better than it had ever been before she realized.

Simon finally set the wrapping paper to the side and opened the small cardboard box. Inside lay a frame that said “Family” on it. In the frame was the photo Agatha had stolen from Penny’s mom the last time she’d been to her house. She could see Lucy smiling in the photograph, an image she’d gotten used to over the last year or so. She’d miss it but she knew it made more sense for Simon to have it.

“That’s Lucy in the picture,” Agatha said, “And David, plus Penny’s parents.”

Simon’s eyes were wide and his mouth was open.

“That’s my…that’s my mom.”

Penny glanced at Agatha, her expression filled with happiness.

“Agatha how did you…?”

Agatha looked away.

“I stole it from your mom about a year ago actually,” she said, “But that was before I knew who Lucy was. I don’t know I just liked her I guess.”

Baz was staring at the picture, eyes narrowed as he focused.

“She looks just like you babe,” he said.

Agatha glanced back at Simon and jolted. He was staring at her, his eyes streaming with tears. But he was smiling too and in that smile she could see just how much this gift meant to him.

“This is the first and only picture I have of my mom,” he said.

Agatha scooted closer.

“You’re my friend Simon, a really good one. I wanted to make sure you had something special for Christmas.”

He grabbed her in a big hug.

“Thank you so much,” he said.

She hugged him back.

“You’re welcome Si,” she said.

When they broke apart he sheepishly handed her a package.

“This isn’t going to compare to that at all,” he said.

She opened it and smiled when she saw it was the new makeup pallet she’d been posting looks for on her Pinterest.

“I love it Simon,” she said, smiling.

Baz smirked.

“So,” he said, “Did you find an adorable picture of me and my mom before I was made into one of the eternally damned?”

She laughed and handed Baz a package

“No,” she said, “You got socks. And teeth whitener.”


	30. Anniversaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 30: One Word Prompts~ Anniversaries 
> 
> I'm so sorry it took me so long to get all my COC 2017 fics up on here. This was my favorite fic to write actually and I hope you like it. It takes place a year after chapter 61 
> 
> Warning: This is very slightly NSFW. No more than kissing and touching but there’s a lot of it.

**Baz**

Music plays softly from the T.V. Will Ferrell in his elf costume is on the screen and the DVD menu keeps restarting over and over again. The movie finished a while ago and Penny went to bed right when it ended. It’s just me and Snow on the couch and I can’t believe my luck.

He’s kissing me.

And not just kissing me like he does right before we sleep or he leaves for class but _really_ kissing me. I’m kissing him back like a hungry animal, blindly pushing my hands into his amazing curls just to keep him right where he is, straddling me above my hips.

“You’re amazing,” I whisper.

“You’re just saying that because you want me,” Snow says.

I close my eyes and press soft kisses down his neck, loving the way he curls into me when I do it.

“I always want you,” I say, “I’m saying this because it’s true. You’re amazing.”

Snow looks at me, his eyes sad with something.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been…that we haven’t been…I want to, I really do. Don’t think I’m avoiding this because I don’t. I just…it’s hard."

Then he kisses me again, this time to shut me up I think. But I wasn’t going to say anything bad. I love him, more than the universe combined, and I’ll take whatever intimacy I can get with him, even if it is mostly holding hands. I pull back, not loosening my grip but finding his eyes.

“Do you know what day it is today?” I ask.

Simon’s eyes are on my lips and I can tell he doesn’t want to take a talking break.

“No,” he says, kissing my neck like he can’t help it.

I get distracted for a minute, liking the way he nips my collarbone, but then I bring his chin back up to my face.

“It’s been a year Simon,” I say, “A year since I tried to kill myself and you stopped me the only way Simon fucking Snow could stop me.”

Snow’s eyes flutter with memory.

“It’s been a year since I kissed you,” he says.

I sit up slightly, bringing our bodies closer together.

“Yes,” I say, “And it doesn’t matter to me how many times we’ve kissed since. It will never matter to me. All I care about is that you did kiss me and that you’ve let me stick around ever since.”

Snow’s eyes are a little shiny and his temple is twitching the way it does before he usually starts crying. I rub my hand down his back and he shivers from how it feels and leans in to it for comfort at the same time.

“I love you,” I whisper, “That’s the only thing that matters to me. I’m already the luckiest man alive. I got to kiss Simon Snow.”

Snow looks down.

“I’m not that guy anymore,” he says, “The guy who kissed you. He would have never had an issue taking our relationship further. He was the Chosen One. I’m just broken.”

I study him. It kills me that he feels this way, that even when he’s enjoying himself or laughing some small part of himself always feels this way. There will never be enough words or enough gestures to beat down those feelings but it doesn’t stop me from trying. Because I don’t see him that way. No matter what, he’s still the boy I fell in love with and the man I keep falling in love with.

“You’re right,” I say,” You’re not the same person you once were.”

I shift so that he’s still on top of me, but we’re face to face.

“You’re better somehow,” I say, “As if that’s possible. You’re real to me now. Not some unattainable mage celebrity that my only destiny was to kill. Not some guy who dreamed about how he would have to kill me someday.”

He’s starting to believe me, I can see it in his eyes.

“It’s been a year Simon,” I say, “And it’s been the most wonderful one of my life. Because I didn’t die that night kissing Simon Snow. And now I get to spend the rest of my life grateful that that night happened.”

Snow leans forward and presses his lips on mine again. He’s kissing me desperately now, his mouth searching for something I can’t give but try to give to him anyways because I’m helpless. This is the only thing I have no control over, my feelings for Snow. And he’s unraveling them with his mouth and his hands.

“I love you,” he gasps, when we break apart.

I can’t speak yet; can only take embarrassingly loud ragged breaths in.

“And you _will_ die kissing me,” he says, “Just not now. Not anytime soon.”

I can hear the promise in his voice. I think something has changed for him that my reassurances have somehow gotten through to him. It doesn’t make sense, but I feel the tension in his shoulders relax and his stiff legs begin to soften around me, it was as if his fear that I was frustrated was the one thing holding him back and now he’s free.

“You’re an idiot,” I whisper, kissing him quickly, “To have ever thought you weren’t the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I know,” he whispers, smiling, “I plan to make up for it though.”

I kiss his jaw because I can now. Who wouldn’t want to kiss his jaw? It’s amazingly sturdy.

“How?” I ask.

Snow pushes me back into the sofa and I let him. He looks amazing like that, the light from the Christmas tree outlining his curls like a rainbow halo. His eyes are bright too, like he’s finally free enough to do what he’d like to do.

“By making another anniversary,” he says, hands lacing through mine as he settles more of himself on top of me.

“And making many others for the rest of our lives,” he says.

His entire body is draped on top of me and I can barely think.

“That sounds suspiciously like a proposal Simon,” I say, voice shaky.

“Shhh,” he says, kissing me for a moment, “One thing at a time.”

I’m more than okay with that.

Then he kisses me again and this time I don’t try to stop him with talking. This has been the greatest anniversary I could ever ask for.


End file.
